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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

U. S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 
E. LESTER JONES, Superintendent 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 



UNITED STATES COAST AND 
GEODETIC SURVEY 



APRIL 5 AND 6, 1916 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 




/L-SListt^ 



WASHINGTON' 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1916 



I<fl6 



D* of D - 
NOV 9 1916 



CONTENTS 



Page. 

Preface 7 

Afternoon session, April 5, 1916 8 

Opening address of welcome by the Superintendent 8 

Addresses by — 

Honorable William C. Redfield, Secretary of Commerce 8 

Doctor Hugh M. Smith, United States Commissioner of Fisheries, 
"The United States Bureau of Fisheries and Its Relation to the 

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey " 10 

Doctor Louis A. Bauer, Director of the Department of Terrestrial Mag- 
netism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, "The Work Done 
by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in the Field of 

Terrestrial Magnetism " 14 

Doctor S. W. Stratton, Director of the United States Bureau of 
Standards, " The Bureau of Standards and Its Relation to the United 

States Coast and Geodetic Survey" 25 

Rear Admiral J. E. Pillsbury (U. S. N., retired), "Ocean Currents 
and Deep-Sea Explorations of the United States Coast and Geodetic 

Survey" , ^ 40 

Doctor George Otis Smith, Director of the United States Geological 
Survey, " The United States Geological Survey and Its Relation to 

the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey" 47 

Evening session, April 5, 1016 57 

Addresses by — 

Honorable J. Hampton Moore, Member of the House of Representa- 
tives, "The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey's Part in the 

Development of Commerce " 57 

Brigadier General W. M. Black, Chief of Engineers of the United 
States Army, "The United States Corps of Engineers and Its Rela- 
tion to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey" 68 

Mr. George R. Putnam, United States Commissioner of Lighthouses, 
"The Lighthouse Service and Its Relation to the United States 

Coast and Geodetic Survey" 73 

Mr. George Washington Littlehales, Hydrographic Engineer of the 
Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy, " Hydrography and 
Charts with Special Reference to the Work of the United States 

Coast and Geodetic Survey " 79 

Afternoon session, April 6, 1916 81 

Addresses by — 

Professor William Henry Burger, of the College of Engineering, 
Northwestern University, "The Contribution of the United States 

Coast and Geodetic Survey to Geodesy" 81 

Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright (U. S. N., retired), "The Civil 
War Record of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and 

What the Survey is Doing Toward Preparedness " 91 

3 



4 Contents 

Afternoon session, April 6, 1916 — Continued. 

Addresses by — Page. 

Doctor Otto Hilgard Tittmann, President National Geographical 

Society, "The International Work of the United States Coast and 

Geodetic Survey" 95 

Doctor Charles Lane Poor, Professor of Celestial Mechanics of Colum- 
bia University, "Ocean Tides, with Special Reference to the Work 

of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey" 102 

Doctor Douglas Wilson Johnson, Professor of Physiography, Columbia 
University, "The Contributions of the United States Coast and 

Geodetic Survey to the Science of Physical Geography" ne 

Centennial banquet, April 6, 1916 122 

Opening address of the toastmaster, the Superintendent 122 

Addresses by — 

The Minister of Switzerland 122 

The Secretary of the Navy, " The Cooperation of the United States 

Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Navy" 127 

The Secretary of Commerce, "The Scope and Needs of the United 

States Coast and Geodetic Survey" 129 

Doctor Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, "The Superintendents of the 

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey " 135 

The President of the United States 141 

Miscellaneous 162 

Congratulatory letters from foreign institutions 162 

List of exhibits at the New National Museum during the celebration 163 

Origin of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey 175 

Departments to which the Survey has been attached 175 

Principal acts of Congress legislating for the Survey 175 

Documents pertaining to the early history of the Survey 179 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
Fig. 

1. Typical curves showing the secular variation of the magnetic declination in 

England and North America from the dates of the earliest observations. . 18 

2. Reproduction of first magnetic declination chart of the United States 20 

3. Latest magnetic declination chart of the United States, for the year 1915. . 22 

4. Troy pound standard 3 6 

5. Standard kilogram 37 

6. Standard balance 37 

7. Platinum-iridium meter 37 

8. Committee meter 3 8 

9. Bronze yard No. n 3^ 

10. Set of historical standards 38 

11. Set of State standards 39 

12. High and low tides in the Petitcodiac River 103 

13. Tide-generating forces ■ io 4 

14. The oscillatory areas of the North Atlantic 109 

15. Cotidal lines of the world * 1 1 

16. Ladies' balcony, Centennial banquet, April 6, 1916, New Willard Hotel. . . 148 

17. Auditorium of the New National Museum, April 5 and 6, 1916 149 

18. Foyer of the New National Museum, showing Coast and Geodetic Survey 

exhibit, April 5 to April 9, 1916 15° 

19. Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, June 18, 

1816, to April 29, 1818, and August 9, 1832, to November 20, 1843 I 5 I 



Contents 5 

Fig. Page. 
20. Alexander Dallas Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, December 12, 

1843, to February 17, 1867 152 

ai. Benjamin Peirce, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, February 26, 1867, 

to February 16, 1874 153 

22. Carlile Pollock Patterson, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Sur- 

vey, February 17, 1874, to August 15, 1881 154 

23. Julius Erasmus Hilgard, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

December 22, 1881, to July 23, 1885 155 

24. Frank Manly Thorn, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

September 1, 1885, to June 30, 1889 156 

25. Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey, July 9, 1889, to September 20, 1894 157 

26. William Ward Duffield, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

December n, 1894, to November 30, 1897 158 

27. Henry Smith Pritchett, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

December 1, 1897, to November 30, 1900 159 

28. Otto Hilgard Tittmann, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

December 1, 1900, to April 14, 1915 160 

29. Ernest Lester Jones, Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

April 15, 1915 161 

30. Portable astronomical transit No. 3 167 

3 1 . Troughton repeating circle 168 

32. Bache magnetometer, with one section of magnet house removed 169 

33. Bache magnetometer, with both sections of magnet house removed 169 

34. Bache-Wurdemann compensating base apparatus 170 

35. Schott 5-meter compensation base bar 171 

36. Secondary base bar No. 13 172 

37. Twenty-inch theodolite No. 4, made by Troughton & Simms 173 

38. Twenty-four inch theodolite No. 2, made by Troughton in 1814 174 

39. Coast Survey brig Washington, in hurricane September 8, 1846 187 

40. Coast Survey schooner Experiment, 1835-1839 18& 

41. Coast and Geodetic Survey schooner Matchless, built in 1859 and still in 

active service 189 

42. Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Hassler, 1876-1895 190 

43. Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer Blake, 1874-1905 191 

44. Coast and Geodetic Survey steamer I sis, 1915 192 

45. Launching the Centennial Survey ship Surveyor, July 22, 1916 193 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE UNITED STATES 
COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 



The commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the organi- 
zation of the Coast Survey, celebrated in the city of Washington on 
April 5 and 6, 1916, is a memorial to the wise foresight of those early 
statesmen of our Republic who laid deep and well the foundations of a 
bureau which has done so much to establish the reputation of the country 
in the development of mathematical and physical science, and has made 
so ample a return for the support it has received from the Nation by 
safeguarding life and commerce on our coastal waters, and by making 
certain the means whereby are reproduced the public and private lines of 
proprietary subdivisions. 

The celebration of the centennial included three public sessions devoted 
to appropriate addresses, held in the New National Museum; a banquet 
held in the New Willard Hotel, at which the invited speakers were the 
President of the United States, the Minister of Switzerland, the Secre- 
taries of the Navy and of Commerce, and Doctor T. C. Mendenhall, former 
Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; and included also an 
exhibit. The Superintendent presided at each of the three sessions and 
served as toastmaster at the banquet. 

The exhibit, held in the New National Museum, was a comprehensive 
display of the various types of instruments used in the operations of the 
Survey, ranging from historic examples of apparatus designed and used 
by Hassler and Bache to the latest forms employed at the present day. 
Notable features were astronomical, geodetic, tidal, topographic, and 
hydrographic apparatus which owe their origin to the Survey and were 
constructed in its workshops. 

The manifold experiences of the field parties of the Bureau under the 
various conditions encountered in the field of operations, extending 
from the Arctic Ocean to the southern limits of the Philippine Archi- 
pelago, were illustrated by prints from photographs made in the field. 

The progress of the developments that has marked the improvements 
in surveying results between 1816 and 1916 was graphically shown by 
comparison of field sheets and by published charts from various periods. 

The addresses delivered and herewith reproduced represent the judg- 
ment of representative leaders in the scientific, engineering, civic, and 
military life of the country upon the value of the operations and results 
of the first century of the Survey's existence. They contain inspiring 
forecasts of the results to be expected from its maintenance and develop- 
ment in accordance with the ever-increasing demands upon it incidental 
to the growth of the Nation and the ceaseless activities of nature. 

7 



AFTERNOON SESSION, APRIL 5, 1916 

OPENING ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY THE SUPERINTENDENT 

Mr. Jones: We are accustomed to express on every fit occasion our 
reverence for the virtue and patriotism in which the foundations of our 
country were laid, and to rejoice in blessings vouchsafed to us under 
our free institutions. To-day we have assembled to commemorate an 
event which happily illustrates the wisdom and enlightened forethought 
of those who designed our national structure, and worked out so wonder- 
fully its many problems, past and present. 

Our country was still young when President Jefferson recognized the 
need for securing definite knowledge of our coastal waters. Having 
conceived the idea, the plan was carried through (in spite of many diffi- 
culties) and the Coast Survey was established in 1816. 

It is not my purpose to take any of our valuable time. It was James 
Russell Lowell who invented a new beatitude: "Blessed are they who 
have nothing to say, and can not be persuaded to say it." My few 
words are intended more, as a pledge of my adherence to the cause than 
an attempt to say anything new or instructive. 

But as in eloquent and fitting terms we shall be led, by those chosen to 
address us, to the contemplation of the history of this Bureau organized 
100 years ago; as the lives and services of those who in the past have 
accomplished its fine work are rehearsed to us, I am sure we shall feel 
the inspiration and the just pride which ever comes from the contem- 
plation of true patriotism and unselfish, well-directed labor. 

The work of the Coast Survey is far-reaching and fills many other 
phases of the Government needs. 

We have with us this afternoon one whom I feel is largely responsible 
for the recent great advancement in the work of the United States Coast 
and Geodetic Survey. His far-reaching constructive ideas, his broad 
vision and conception of both the practical and scientific, have given 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey the greatest stimulus in going forward 
in the past three years. 

I take pleasure in introducing to you the Honorable William C. Redfield, 
Secretary of Commerce, who will say a few words of welcome to you. 

ADDRESS OF HONORABLE WILLIAM C. REDFffiLD, SECRETARY OF 
COMMERCE 

Secretary Redeield: Mr. Superintendent, ladies and gentlemen, I 
realize fully that I am breaking in upon a program of far more interest 
than any contribution of mine can be. I did not intend to come here 



Centennial Celebration 9 

and make an address, though I would not have been willingly absent. I 
hoped to listen and do nothing more, and yet something is omitted 
from your program both for this afternoon and for to-morrow and to- 
morrow night about which a little something should here be said. So I 
am going to say it. 

Long years ago — longer than I like to think now — we employed a 
commercial traveler. I remember him well. His name was McCarthy, 
a good Methodist, who used to say when they asked him to drink, 
in the days when drinking was common among commercial travelers, 
"Now, my friend, I promised my wife once I would not drink, and you 
would not like me to break my word to that lady, would you?" In that 
way he got around many an invitation to indulge. I remember saying 
to him once, "McCarthy, you get kind of lonesome off on the road, don't 
you, going way off thousands of miles from home? You do not hear, 
you do not know whether the concern is going on or not ; you do not know 
whether the factory is burned ; you do not know whether you are appre- 
ciated. You are all by yourself out in the big, big world. All you know 
is that you get your salary check; you do not get much else with it, just 
'Please find inclosed the usual check.' Is it not kind of sad and lonely 
there, McCarthy?" He said, "It surely is, Mr. Redfield." I said, 
"McCarthy, we will break that up. Every Saturday night we will mail 
a letter to you, McCarthy; there may not be much in it, but if we can not 
say anything more we will just say, ' We hope you are well, McCarthy, and 
hope the work is right, and don't worry.' " 

A year or two went by and he told me that he never realized what the 
touch of home — even though it was such a little touch as that — meant 
to him; that it gave him a sense of living unity with his work, a sense of 
human values. 

I am going to talk to you about human values in the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. It would not be worth much without human values. A dead 
scientific brain, however actuated by power, would be a pretty hopeless 
kind of thing. You could not sympathize with it. An automatic, scien- 
tific surveying apparatus would not enthuse us very much, but when 
men, our men, men whom we know, go out in the waste places of the 
world and very far from the haunts of active life they do better work 
because they are on their honor to do it. When they go out and apply 
to the deserts and the mountains the truths of science, when they annex 
the globe and make it plastic in the hands of man because of what they 
have done, when the human spirit overcomes nature, when the human 
heart and mind conquer difficulties — those are greater things than any 
arbitrary facts of mathematics or of science. Those are the bigger things. 
The men who do the work in the field or on the ships are bigger than the 
work they create; the creator is larger than the created. That is what I 
care supremely about. It is you, in your work, you who make the work, 
who are greater than the work, out of whose life the work comes, whose 



io U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

work is a witness to what you are. That is the thing of supreme value, 
and how sad it is, how very sad it is how little is thought of it. 

Let us make a new rule as we commence the second century of this 
work, that this century shall be full of the science of human life, that the 
men in the field are not forgotten, that our thought goes out to them every 
day, wherever they are, and that the whole great widespread organism 
from the far Philippines to Porto Rico and from Alaska to the Caribbean 
Sea is all instinct with the life of a living thing. If we can make that our 
high ideal, our life will be sweeter and our work will be none the worse. 
In that spirit I welcome you most cordially here, and let us from this 
day breathe, if we may, a new spirit into our labors. 

Mr. Jones: Our second address will be "The United States Bureau 
of Fisheries, and Its Relation to the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey." My interests in that bureau are twofold. First, I have had the 
privilege, which is always a pleasant thought, to have been associated 
with that important arm of the Government for two years, and I know 
much of its work; and, second, as Superintendent of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey I realize that in past years we have contributed in a 
measure to the great work which that Bureau has carried on. 

We have with us this afternoon its head, and I take pleasure in intro- 
ducing to you Doctor Hugh M. Smith, Commissioner of Fisheries. 

THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF FISHERIES AND ITS RELATION TO THE 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Doctor Smith: Long before the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the 
Bureau of Fisheries were adopted by the same mother department and 
thus became sisters — in fact , as early as 1 873 , when the former had already 
attained a robust maturity and the latter was still in swaddling clothes : — 
there began close cooperative relations. These have continued up to 
the present time and have increased in intimacy and value in more recent 
years since the two establishments became members of the same official 
family. It is only fair to acknowledge that at first the cooperation was 
very one-sided, consisting largely of the bestowal by the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey of substantial favors in return for profuse thanks. From 
1880, when the Bureau of Fisheries began to acquire vessels of its own, 
that service began to repay, in part at least, some of its obligations, and 
ultimately it contributed substantially to the published records of the 
Survey. The former has always depended on the latter for its basic 
triangulation whenever a biological survey of any kind has been under- 
taken in a region in which the Coast and Geodetic Survey has operated, 
which, of course, means anywhere on the coast of the United States. On 
the other hand, the hydrographic and topographic results of this bio- 
logical work have always been made available to the Survey. 

On both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts some of the offshore sound- 
ings found on the charts were determined by the steamers Fish Hawk 



Centennial Celebration 1 1 

and Albatross in pursuance of their fishery investigations, and some of 
the inshore data of certain of the earlier charts came from reconnois- 
sances by the Albatross. While much of the latter has been superseded 
by more accurate work, as the Coast and Geodetic Survey was able to 
extend its operations, it served a good purpose for some years. Later, 
there came into the command of these two vessels naval officers who 
had been trained in the Survey, with resulting improvement in the char- 
acter and accuracy of the fishery surveys, not only those under their 
immediate direction but throughout the service. I can not let this 
opportunity pass without paying humble tribute to the distinguished 
labors in behalf of oceanic physics and biology performed by men like 
Z. L. Tanner and J. F. Moser, who, while retaining their naval status, 
commanded fishery vessels, and collected invaluable material for the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

The gathering of hydrographic and other data for use of the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey by the steamer Albatross has been extensive in 
the Pacific Ocean and along the west coast of America. The work began 
in 1888 and has continued to the present time. In addition to using 
the material thus obtained for perfecting its charts, the Survey has 
published two special bulletins dealing exclusively with the results of 
Albatross work in various parts of Alaska. 

One of the interesting phases of this activity of a vessel in the fishery 
service in behalf the Survey has been the search for reported dangers to 
navigation that were inaccurately charted or possibly nonexistent. 
Thus, in 189a, the Albatross searched for Anderson Rock, off Sannak 
Island, Alaska, and disproved its existence in the location assigned. 
Again, in 1888 and 1892, it devoted considerable time to sounding in the 
Fairweather Ground off Cape St. Elias, Alaska, in an effort to locate 
the celebrated Pamplona Rock, first reported by the Spaniard Arteaga 
in 1779, referred to by Vancouver and other early navigators, carried on 
American, British, and other charts for many years, and listed as a very 
dangerous though uncertain reef in various coast pilots and maritime 
directories. Coast Survey chart No. 8500, which is "compiled from 
British and Russian authorities by the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey and the United States Fish Commission," published in 1900 and 
corrected to 1904, very properly omits Pamplona Rock and gives the 
Albatross soundings over the ascribed location of this reef, for it has 
become evident that if it ever existed it is now submerged to a depth 
of 1,500 to 1,750 fathoms, making it no longer a menace, even to sub- 
marine navigation. 

It is impracticable to enumerate the various kinds of public sendee 
which the two bureaus have undertaken together and carried to successful 
completion, and the few minutes of my time remaining will be devoted 
to a reference to what I conceive to be the chief cooperation in which they 
have engaged. This has been in behalf of the most important, most 



12 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

valuable, most abused, and most neglected of all the inhabitants of our 
waters. I refer, of course, to the peerless American oyster. 

It would be a highly commendatory act for anyone to make two oysters 
grow where only one grew before. How much more praiseworthy has 
been the cooperative effort which has made millions of bushels grow 
where none grew before ! 

The first work on the oyster grounds was done by the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey in Georgia, North Carolina , and Chesapeake Bay between 
about 1880 and 1891. Later it was recognized that such work is pri- 
marily biological, that engineering operations are mainly to provide the 
skeleton on which to erect the biological and economic facts the deter- 
mination of which is the main purpose in view ; and thereafter the oyster 
surveys were conducted by the Bureau of Fisheries. 

At first the old triangulation points of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
were depended on to supply the necessary framework, but later the 
cooperation was more explicit and in many cases the Survey performed 
special triangulation while the Bureau of Fisheries did the hydro- 
graphic and biological work, which parts can not be separated. The 
results of this cooperation have been advantageous to both parties to 
it. The Bureau of Fisheries was provided with fundamental data 
more accurate than it was able to provide for itself, and the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey not only reestablished triangulation in regions 
in which the original physical marks were lost, destroyed, or other- 
wise deficient, but it obtained from the Bureau of Fisheries hydro- 
graphic and topographic data for the correction of charts which the 
changes wrought by time had made inaccurate. These changes are 
particularly likely to occur in oyster regions, especially on the southern 
coasts, owing partly to the upbuilding or destruction of the beds and 
partly to geophysical conditions which cause some inlets to close, others 
to open, and all to fluctuate more or less in position and surroundings. 

In conclusion reference may be made to the most extensive, long- 
continued, and important work which the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
and the Bureau of Fisheries have undertaken jointly. This was in 
behalf of the oyster industry of Maryland, a State whose natural oyster 
resources, not equaled elsewhere, have for many decades been dealt 
with in a most inefficient manner and have paid the penalty arising 
from gross neglect. 

In 1906, at the request of the State of Maryland, expressed by the 
legislature and preferred through the governor, and by authority of an 
act of Congress carrying an appropriation, the bureaus began cooperation 
with the Maryland Shell Fish Commission in the survey of the natural 
oyster beds of that State. The work was prosecuted assiduously and 
was not concluded until 1913, after an expenditure of $125,000 by the 
State and $75,000 from the Federal Treasury. 



Centennial Celebration 13 

This survey was predicated on the passage by the Legislature of Mary- 
land of a fairly adequate law for the encouragement of oyster culture and 
on the belief that this legislation would not be weakened and presumably 
would be perfected in the course of time. Very soon after the conclusion 
of this survey the legislature passed a law which made it practically 
useless. Lessees who had entered on oyster culture in good faith were 
threatened with dispossession, and condemnation proceedings were 
brought; but in -view of the vested rights of the lessees, damages were 
awarded against the State to the amount of about $300,000 in one county 
alone. As the State treasury was already in a condition of incipient 
bankruptcy, there was no money available for the payment of the dam- 
ages and the judgments obtained could not be given effect. The whole 
situation was thrown into confusion, the oyster planters did not feel 
warranted in proceeding under the threat of possible dispossession, and 
the State could not take possession of the leaseholds and throw them 
open to the common fishery. 

There the matter rests, but it seems probable that some good must 
come from all the agitation ; and there is reason for hope that an aroused 
public sentiment, especially in parts of the State away from the tide- 
water, may prevent Maryland from lapsing into another protracted 
comatose condition while her wide-awake sister States are reaping 
the golden harvest that inevitably comes to those who intelligently 
plant the waters; and that its costly lessons of the past, the dictates 
of common sense, the advice of every disinterested, competent authority 
may lead her to accord just treatment to her most valuable natural 
asset, and thus to show her appreciation of the cooperative work in her 
behalf performed by two bureaus of the Federal Government such as 
has never been equaled in magnitude and thoroughness in behalf of any 
other State. 

Mr. Jones: The next address will be "The Work Done by the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey in the Field of Terrestrial Magnetism," 
and will be delivered by one who is especially qualified to speak on the 
subject. 

As a computer in the Bureau from 1887 to 1892 he became impressed 
with the importance of that field of investigation and recognized the 
very small part that the United States had been able to take up to that 
time in advancing our knowledge of the earth's magnetism. 

As chief of the division of terrestrial magnetism and inspector of 
magnetic work in the Survey from 1899 to 1906, he was in a large measure 
responsible for the successful expansion of the work, which became 
possible in 1900. 

As director of the department of terrestrial magnetism of the Carnegie 
Institution of Washington since 1904, he has had opportunity to 
compare the work of this Bureau with that of similar organizations in 
other countries. I take pleasure in presenting Doctor Louis A. Bauer. 



14 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

THE WORK DONE BY THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY IN THE FIELD OF TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM 

Doctor Bauer: Professor Alexander Dallas Bache, the second Superin- 
tendent of the Coast Survey, and Doctor J. E. Hilgard, the fifth incum- 
bent of this honored office, contributed a joint paper to the Coast Survey 
report for 1856, which also appeared in the July, 1857, number of the 
American Journal of Science and Arts. The paper bore the title "On 
the General Distribution of Terrestrial Magnetism in the United States, 
from Observations Made by the United States Coast Survey and Others." 
The opening sentences read as follows : 

During the progress of the Coast Survey within the last 12 years, observations 
of the magnetic elements have been made, under special instructions from the Super- 
intendent, at most of the astronomical stations, and near many capes and harbors 
where a knowledge of the variation of the compass was requisite for the use of naviga- 
tion. The number of magnetic stations now amounts to about 160, distributed 
(irregularly as yet) along the entire sea coast of the United States, on a great portion 
of which magnetic observations were now made for the first time. 

That was the status of the magnetic work of the Coast Survey six 
decades ago. At the close of 191 5 the stations at which the magnetic 
elements have been completely determined by the Survey number, in the 
United States proper, about 5,000 and in the outlying possessions, about 
500. They are now found to be more regularly distributed. About 80 
per cent of the stations have been occupied during the period 1899 to 
1 91 5 and at about 10 per cent the observations have been repeated from 
time to time in order to determine the changes ever going on in the earth's 
magnetism. In addition, magnetic data at sea have been accumulated, as 
opportunity afforded, on cruises of Coast and Geodetic Survey vessels ; a 
number of magnetic observatories (five at present), where the countless 
fluctuations of the earth's magnetism are being continuously recorded, 
have been operated; invaluable compilations of all available magnetic 
data in the United States and contiguous countries have been made ; the 
instruments used have been improved from time to time; and about 150 
magnetic publications and a large number of magnetic charts of various 
kinds have been issued, nearly one-third of the publications having 
appeared during the last 16 years. The Survey likewise has rendered 
effective aid to various persons and expeditions in the loan of magnetic 
instruments, training of observers, and preparation of instructions, and 
has cooperated in special international magnetic observations. 1 So 
without fear of contradiction it may be said that the contributions of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey *:o the advancement of our knowledge in 
terrestrial magnetism have been unexcelled by any other national 
organization. 

1 To serve the interests of the surveyor when he has occasion to use the compass in his surveys, the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey has also established at many county seats throughout the country meridian lines 
for the testing of compasses. 



Centennial Celebration 15 

It were a fortunate fact, indeed, had other countries emulated the 
example of this organization and had preserved and put in accessible 
form all past data having a bearing on the changes in the compass direc- 
tion and on the other magnetic elements. Thanks to the compilations 
of such data, made chiefly during the period when the late Charles A. 
Schott was chief of the computing division, this Survey has been able to 
furnish with promptness invaluable information in the adjudication of 
disputed land boundaries, the bearings of which were referred to the 
compass direction when originally laid out, ioo to 150 years ago or more. 

From the earliest days of the Survey magnetic observations were con- 
sidered a legitimate and useful part of its work. In the "Plan for the 
Reorganization of the Survey of the Coast," as adopted in 1843, there 
was explicit provision for the making of "all such magnetic observations 
as circumstances and the state of the annual appropriations may allow." 
Since then Congress, by annual appropriations, has continuously and 
increasingly recognized the importance of this feature of the work of the 
Survey, so that in 1899 an enlarged annual appropriation of $25,000 
(about ten times the average annual amount previously allotted) made it 
possible to carry out a magnetic survey of the whole United States on a 
more systematic basis and with greater expedition than had theretofore 
been possible. 

The plan adopted for the reorganized magnetic work of the Survey, on 
the basis of which the increased appropriation was requested, was that 
submitted by me at the request of Superintendent Pritchett. 1 I was at 
the time on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati, but had been 
connected previously with the Survey as a member of the computing 
division under Mr. Schott, from 1887 to 1892. I had also been in charge 
of the detailed magnetic survey of Maryland from 1896 to 1899, which 
was conducted under the auspices of the Maryland Geological Survey 
(William Bullock Clark, director), with instruments loaned to the State 
of Maryland by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

The example set by Maryland was soon followed by North Carolina, 
and it appeared to Superintendent Pritchett that the time was ripe for 
organizing a magnetic survey of our entire country along the general 
lines of the Maryland magnetic survey. Doctor Pritchett having received 
the necessary authority to proceed, and I having been fortunate in 
passing successfully the civil-service examination as an "expert in 
terrestrial magnetism" (there being no competitors), a new division, 
known as the division of terrestrial magnetism, was established on May 
i, 1899, and put under my charge. To this division there were added: 

1 The plan contemplated observations of the three magnetic elements at stations which at first were to 
beabout 30 t0 4°milesap?rt; next, additional stations in magnetically disturbed areas; repeat observations 
at a suitable number of stations for the control of the secular changes of the magnetic elements; and the 
operation of a certain number of magnetic observatories at fixed stations. See Appendix 10. Report of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1898-99. This appendix also contains an account of the magnetic work 
and magnetic charts previous to 1899. 



1 6 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Assistant J. B. Baylor, who for many years had made magnetic obser- 
vations under Schott's direction; Computer D. L. Hazard, previously 
a member of the computing division under Mr. Schott and at present 
chief of the division; and Messrs. J. A. Fleming and H. W. Vehrenkamp, 
two of my students at the University of Cincinnati, who having passed 
the civil-service examination were appointed aids and attached to the 
new division. They were immediately trained by me in field work, and 
thus both the field operations and the computing work of the division 
were fairly well organized when the increased annual allotment of $25,000 
became available on July 1, 1899. With the later addition of magnetic 
observers, among the first of whom was W. F. Wallis, who for a decade 
served the Survey faithfully, the work in the field and office could then 
be energetically prosecuted. The chief of the division was also appointed 
at this time inspector of magnetic work. 

During the period 1900 to 1903, five magnetic observatories were 
established and put in operation, in connection with which effective and 
skillful assistance was rendered by J. A. Fleming. Special buildings 
were erected for the observatories at Cheltenham, Maryland; Sitka, 
Alaska ; and Ewa, near Honolulu, Hawaii, in accordance with plans 1 
based on a careful study of existing magnetic observatories. Similar 
buildings were likewise constructed later at Vieques, Porto Rico, to replace 
the temporary quarters used there at first. Also when the provisional 
observatory at Baldwin, Kansas, at which the observations had begun in 
1900, was abandoned, special buildings for the new observatory at 
Tucson, Arizona, were erected in 1909. The buildings at Vieques and 
Tucson were designed by Observer W. B. Keeling, who had charge of 
the construction of the former and was preparing for the erection of the 
latter when he met with the accident which caused his death. 

Besides fulfilling the needs of a magnetic survey of our country, the 
five magnetic observatories of the Coast and Geodetic Survey were- 
established in time to cooperate successfully with the British and German 
Antarctic expeditions of 1902 to 1903. The care evinced in the selection 
of the sites for these observatories has had its reward in the circum- 
stance that, thus far, in no instance have the observations been vitiated 
by the disturbing influences of electric car lines or industrial establish- 
ments. In addition to magnetic instruments, there are installed at the 
magnetic observatories of the Coast and Geodetic Survey seismographs 
for the continuous recording of earthquake tremors. Thus, the most 
comprehensive records, in the United States and possessions, for the 
California earthquake of April 18, 1906, were contributed by the Survey, 
for at that time but very few seismographs had been installed in our 
country. 

The year 1903 is memorable in the progress of the Survey's magnetic 
work, for it marks the inauguration of systematic magnetic observations 

1 See Appendix 5, Report of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1902. 



Centennial Celebration 17 

at sea on the Survey vessels. During a trip made by the writer as inspec- 
tor of magnetic work from Baltimore to Porto Rico on the Blake, then 
in command of Assistant R. L. Faris, the present Assistant Superintend- 
ent, magnetic observations, comprising the magnetic declination, the dip, 
and the intensity of the magnetic force, were made daily at sea with the 
aid of newly installed instrumental appliances. Mr. Faris and I vied with 
each other as to speed and accuracy in these observations. I recall with 
much pleasure our joint gratification at being able, on the conclusion of 
the trip, January 27, 1903, to cable Superintendent Tittmann: "Marine 
magnetics successful; daily observations." This experience, as well as 
that later obtained in the conduct of the work, assisted me in no small 
measure in the inauguration of the magnetic survey of all the oceans 
under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. And in 
this connection it should be recorded that the first cruise of the Car- 
negie Institution vessel, then the Galilee, was made under the command 
of Assistant J. F. Pratt, who had received from the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey a furlough of six months in order that he might assist me in the 
inauguration of this new work. The cruise was made during the period 
July to December, 1905, in the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to San 
Diego, thence to Honolulu and Fanning Island, and return to San Diego. 
On this cruise there were, furthermore, as watch officer and observer, 
Paul C. Whitney, and as surgeon and observer, Doctor J. Hobart Egbert, 
both of whom were likewise given furloughs by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. Since then there has been effective and cordial cooperation in 
magnetic work between the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the depart- 
ment of terrestrial magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 
The latter organization, in return for the assistance received from the 
former, has repeatedly supplied, for example, magnetic data obtained in 
contiguous countries to the United States and on the adjacent oceans. 

One of the warmest supporters of the project of a world magnetic sur- 
vey, as submitted by the writer to the Carnegie Institution, was Doctor 
Tittmann. During the period 1 904 to 1 906, by special permission received 
from the Secretary of the Department of Commerce, I devoted my time 
about half and half between the magnetic work of the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey and that of the Carnegie Institution. During this period, 
however, the requisite preparations were made to insure the uninter- 
rupted progress of the magnetic work of the Survey when it became 
necessary for me, on September 1, 1906, to devote my entire time to 
the department of terrestrial magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of 
Washington. 

A review of the magnetic work accomplished by the Survey during the 
period 1906 to 191 5 gives ample evidence that the work was carried out 
successfully under the charge of my successor, R. L. Faris, who was 
ably assisted, as I had been, by the chief computer of the division of 
terrestrial magnetism, D. L. Hazard. It is especially gratifying to note 
44282°— 16 2 



1 8 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

the continued promptness in the publication of the acquired magnetic 
data. It is hoped that the Survey will continue to set the example in 
this respect to other institutions engaged in magnetic work. 

These introductory remarks must suffice as regards a general account 
of the work done by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 
the field of terrestrial magnetism. Time will not permit going into 
greater detail. Let me instead single out one particular line of inquiry 
in which the magnetic work of the Survey has been preeminent — the 
study of the secular changes of the magnetic elements, more particularly 
of the magnetic declination (variation of the compass). 

Figure i gives "Typical curves showing the secular variation of the 
magnetic declination in England and North America from the dates of 
the earliest observations." Looking first at the London curve, it would 
appear that near the year 1580 the compass pointed about n° east; 
there are indications that prior to 1580 the easterly bearing of the north 
end of the compass was less than this amount. After 1580 this easterly 
bearing began to diminish until about 1658, when it was zero, or the 
compass needle stood exactly north and south. Thereafter the north 
end of the compass needle pointed west by an ever increasing amount, 
until about 1812, when the westerly bearing was somewhat over 24 . 
Since 1 81 2 the amount of the magnetic declination at London has been 
steadily decreasing, until it is now about 15 west. We thus see that 
the compass bearing at London from 1580 to 181 2, or during an interval 
of 232 years, changed from n° east to 24 west, or 35 . While the 
average rate of change was 9 minutes per year, as a matter of fact, the 
annual change was not uniform but varied from o to about 14 minutes 
of arc. 

Until quite recent times it was thought that the secular variation ran 
through a regular, rhythmic course, and it was often likened to the swing 
of a pendulum. After a certain period of years it was supposed that the 
compass bearing would pass through the same cycle of changes as it 
had previously. Judged from the London curve, for example, it was 
assumed that the secular variation period might be approximately twice 
the interval of years which had elapsed between the easterly extreme 
in 1580 and the westerly extreme in 181 2, hence about 450 to 500 years. 

However, the extensive data collected by the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
gradually began to show that the time interval between observed easterly 
and westerly extremes is shorter in North America than in Europe. Thus, 
turning to figure 1 we find that for St. John's, Newfoundland, the inter- 
val was about 180 years; for Trenton, New Jersey, it was 130 years; and 
at Houston, Texas, it was but 50 years. Hence, the secular variation 
period, if it is to be regarded as twice the interval of time elapsed between 
two extreme positions of the compass direction, would vary apparently 
from about 500 years in western Europe to 100 years and less in the 
western part of our country. 



30V 



25W. 



1650 



1700 



1750 



1800 




20"W. 



St. John's Sydney Eastport 

Newfoundland Nova Scotia Maine 



FIG. 1.-TYPICAL CURVES SHOWING TH 
44282"— 16. (To face page 18.) 



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W. 15 


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1700 








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St. John's Sydney Eaatport London Hanover Trenton Washington Greensboro Ashland Houston Santa Rosa San Diego 
Newfoundland NovaScotia Maine England N.H. N.J. D.C. N.Carolina Alabama Texas New Mexico California 



. SHOWING THE SECU 



Centennial Celebration 19 

By following the progression of certain salient characteristics of the 
secular variation across the United States (see fig. 1), it will be observed 
how this apparent shortening of the secular variation period occurs. 
Let us follow first the progress of the easterly extreme of the compass 
direction, marked by the letter E for the various curves. We see that 
starting with London and going across the Atlantic to St. John's, New- 
foundland, and thence across the United States, this phase has appar- 
ently occurred later and later. The march across the Atlantic from 
London to St. John's took approximately from 1580 to 1685, or about 
105 years, which implies a motion of half a degree in longitude per year. 
For the phase E to pass from St. John's to Eastport, Maine, took approxi- 
mately from 1685 to 1765, or about 80 years, the average motion in lon- 
gitude being 0.2 per year. From the stations in the United States 
alone, we find that the annual motion in longitude of this easterly phase 
was 0.48 . The average annual motion in longitude between London 
and the west coast of the United States, or one-third of the way around 
the earth, was about 0.4 . If this rate of motion continues completely 
around the earth, then after the lapse of about 900 years from the year 
1580 — that is, about 2480 — the easterly phase will have returned to 
London. This is, in fact, about the length of one of the periods postu- 
lated by past investigators, as, for example, Lord Kelvin. Examination 
shows, however, that the westerly rate of motion differs considerably for 
various parallels of latitude. Periods of the secular change, deduced in 
this manner, vary from several hundred years to several thousand years. 

Let us next try to follow in the same manner as before the progression 
from station to station of the westerly phase, W. At London this 
phase occurred about 1812 and at St. John's, Newfoundland, about 
1865; hence, the annual motion in longitude was about i°, or twice 
as rapid as was the progress of the easterly phase across the Atlantic. 
Inspecting next the Sydney curve (fig. 1), it would appear that the 
westerly extreme which occurred about 1880 was evidently not the 
final extreme; a secondary wave seems to have made its appearance, 
causing a minor easterly extreme about 1900 and thereafter a westerly 
march of the compass direction again. At Eastport the westerly phase 
had not occurred as late as 191 5. Crossing the United States we do 
not find any curves (see fig. 1) with westerly extremes until Ashland, 
Alabama, is reached. In fact, it would appear that this phase occurred 
earlier in the Western than in the Central States and that it has not 
yet taken place in the Eastern States. In brief, it would seem that there 
is a westerly phase moving eastward from the Pacific Coast States 
(see fig. 1, progression of W, right-hand side) at an average annual 
rate of motion in longitude of about i°.7, or about three to four times 
as fast as was the progress of the easterly phase E westward. Hence, 
if the westerly phase traveled around the earth at this same average 
rate, it would make a complete circuit in 300 years or less. 



20 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

•» 

It is seen, then, that the time interval between two extreme posi- 
tions of the compass direction is a very complicated matter — the interval 
may be two centuries or more, as shown by the London curve, or it may 
be but 20 years, as indicated, for example, by observations in Arizona. 
The length of the interval at any station depends entirely upon its 
position with reference to the various secular-variation waves sweeping 
over the earth or portions thereof, apparently both in an easterly and in a 
westerly direction. 

These curves (fig. 1) will also serve to show that it is no longer worth 
while to go to the labor of establishing mathematical formulae to repre- 
sent the changes of the magnetic declination at any one station. The 
predicted values derived from such formulae, even for so short a space of 
time as 5 or 10 years, have proved to be erroneous by o°.5 or more, 
thus vitiating their use for even the practical purposes of surveying. 
Accordingly there was introduced instead in the Survey a decade ago 
the method of graphs or curves to represent the observed changes of the 
magnetic declination. From these graphs are scaled the values of the 
magnetic declination for intervals of five years at a sufficient number 
of stations, usually one to three for each State, according to its area. 
These scaled values serve to furnish finally the declination changes 
supplied by the Survey in answer to calls from surveyors or others. 

Another advantage of these graphs is that they tend to preserve 
the countless short-period fluctuations, instead of tending to eliminate 
them, as do the empirical, mathematical formulae, which necessarily 
are based on more or less preconceived notions as to how the secular 
changes should progress. In other words, while at times, owing to 
uncertainty of data, even the graphs require smoothing out, nevertheless 
in general they are fairly true representations of the actual facts, rather 
than counterfeits of them as computed results are often found to be. 

This experience as to the uselessness of empirical formulae for the 
purposes of prediction has been encountered not alone in terrestrial 
magnetism, but likewise in that supposedly far more exact science, 
astronomy. There are certain outstanding motions of members of our 
solar system which are proving exceedingly puzzling to the astronomer, 
defying, in fact, the most subtle mathematical applications of the gravi- 
tation theory for their adequate explanation. 

The most baffling of these astronomical problems is that of account- 
ing for the irregularities of the moon's motion, as exhibited by observa- 
tions during the past two or three centuries. Noted astronomers who 
have made the investigation of the moon's irregularities the object of 
special study — such as Newcomb and Brown, for example — have had 
to reach the conclusion that it is futile to establish a mathematical 
formula. To quote from a recent article * by Doctor F. E. Ross, who, it 
will be recalled, was for many years in charge of the international lati- 

1 Astronomical Journal, No. 667, May 19, 1914, p. 156. 



Centennial Celebration 21 

tude station at Gaithersburg, Maryland: "The moon now appears to be 
at an epoch in its history in which it is hazardous to attempt to predict 
its position even two years in advance. Being less amenable to theory 
and mathematical formulation than has hitherto been supposed, light 
is shed on the discordant results obtained in the discussion of ancient 
and medieval eclipses." 

It may be of interest to record here an incident which occurred at 
about the time when the writer was inaugurating the world magnetic 
survey under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 
One day he received a visit from the late lamented Professor Simon New- 
comb, the closing years of whose life were mainly devoted to a revision 
of his lunar tables. After a few words as to the object of his visit, he 
spoke somewhat as follows: "I am unable to account for the irregu- 
larities of the movements of the moon by any gravitation-disturbing 
effects. Have you any record of changes in the earth's magnetic con- 
dition with which the outstanding motions of the moon might be corre- 
lated?" He also intimated that he was particularly interested in the 
variations of the earth's magnetism of short period rather than in the 
slowly progressive changes which, as we have seen, may require many 
centuries for their fulfillment. 

Unfortunately at the time certain studies which I had begun were 
not far enough along to permit me to give Professor Newcomb what he 
specially desired. Since then these studies, based in a large measure 
on the magnetic-observatory data of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
have progesssed sufficiently to show that concomitant investigations 
of fluctuations in the earth's magnetism and those of the astronomical 
irregularities, such as have been referred to, may prove exceedingly 
interesting, if not productive of the disclosure of a new set of forces 
which must be taken into account in astronomy of precision. It will 
lead us too far astray to go here into further details. Suffice it to say 
that the Coast and Geodetic Survey, by the uninterrupted continuation 
of its magnetic-survey work and its magnetic-observatory work, has 
presented to it an opportunity not to be despised to benefit mankind 
and enrich our knowledge in ways of which we may at present have 
but little inkling. 

The magnetic survey of the United States receives added interest 
from the fact that it embraces nearly one-fifteenth of the land area of 
the globe — the largest land area for which a general magnetic survey 
on a homogeneous basis and with the requisite accuracy has at present 
been made. Furthermore, for no land area of similar size can the secular 
changes of the earth's magnetism be so comprehensively and so accurately 
investigated as for our country. This is in view of the circumstance 
that the magnetic survey of the United States has been going on with 
unbroken continuity for well-nigh three-quarters of a century and not 
at irregular intervals, as has been the case in other countries. Let us 



22 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

hope therefore that there never will be a cause for the cessation even 
temporarily of the activity of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in this 
important field of human inquiry. 

Much still, however, remains to be done if the density of magnetic 
stations in the United States, or the number of points at which the 
magnetic elements have been determined for a given area, is to equal 
that of other countries. Thus, at the end of 19 15, there had been estab- 
lished in the United States proper by the Coast and Geodetic Survey one 
station, on the average, for about every 600 square miles; that is, the 
magnetic observations were made at places about 25 miles apart. This 
is the average distance; for some Western States this distance is about 
twice as great. The magnetic survey of Holland averaged one station 
to every 40 square miles, that of Maryland one to every 95 square 
miles, and that of Great Britain one to every 139 square miles. 1 

A preliminary analysis of the magnetic conditions in the United States, 
which I made in 1907, indicated that when the magnetic stations in the 
United States have been established in sufficient number, facts will be 
disclosed of extreme interest and importance, not alone to the magneti- 
■cian, but to the engineer, the geodesist, the geologist, and to the physi- 
ographer as well. 2 

A word as to the importance of the magnetic-observatory work of the 
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. The purpose of a magnetic 
observatory is to obtain a continuous record, by photographic means, of 
the countless and continual fluctuations in the earth's magnetic state. 
Thus, for example, the compass direction at any given place in our coun- 
try varies from morning to afternoon by an amount appreciable even in 
land surveying. Then, again, the compass direction may be modified 
in an instant, as the result of a so-called magnetic storm, by a degree 
and even, at times, by several degrees. There are many other magnetic 
fluctuations of which, however, we have no time to speak. The illustra- 
tions given will suffice to show the importance of the work of a magnetic 
observatory. 

The first magnetic observatories established in North America were 
the one at Toronto in 1840 by the British Government and the one at 
Girard College, Philadelphia, in 1840, by Professor Bache. When three 
years later Professor Bache became Superintendent of the Coast Survey, 
he not only expanded the magnetic field work of the Survey, but also in 
i860 established a magnetic observatory at Key West, Florida, which 
continued in operation six years. The photographic instruments were 
next transported to Madison, Wisconsin, and a series of continuous mag- 
netic observations was obtained there from 1876 to 1880. Magnetic in- 
struments were supplied to the two stations established by our Govern- 

1 Working under the plan for the general magnetic survey, published in the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
Report for 1898-99 (Appendix No. 10), there have been occupied on an average since 1899 about 250 new 

.stations and 75 repeat stations annually, thus making the total number of stations about 323 per year. 

2 Science, N. S., vol. 27, pp. 812-816, May 22, 1908. 



Centennial Celebration 23 

tnent during the so-called international polar year of 1882 to 1883, at 
Point Barrow, Alaska, under the charge of Lieutenant Ray, and at the 
Arctic station, Fort Conger, under General Greely's direction. The Coast 
and Geodetic Survey also operated a magnetic observatory at Los An- 
geles, 1882 to 1889, and at San Antonio, Texas, 1890 to 1895. 

This continual shifting, however, of a magnetic observatory from sta- 
tion to station, while necessary at the time, owing to the limited funds 
available and our limited knowledge as to the magnetic fluctuations, has 
proved unfortunate from various points of view. Canada has the credit 
of having maintained in the Western Hemisphere a magnetic observa- 
tory for the longest period of years. The Toronto observatory was in 
continuous operation from 1840 to 1897, when it had to be moved, 
owing to the disturbing influences of electric car lines, to Agincourt, 
some miles east of Toronto. The photographic series of observations at 
this new station began again in 1899 and has continued ever since. 
Thus, Canada enjoys the distinction of having a continuous record, save 
for one year, of the magnetic fluctuations for three-quarters of a century. 

Fortunately, owing to the awakened interest and the increased annual 
appropriation granted by our Congress, beginning with 1899, it became 
possible to remedy the defects complained of with regard to our own 
observatories. There now have been in operation under the direction of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey four magnetic observatories for a con- 
tinuous period of 13 or 14 years. They are at Vieques (Porto Rico) since 
1903, Cheltenham (Maryland) since 1901, Sitka (Alaska) since 1902, and 
near Honolulu (Hawaii) since 1902. Furthermore, at Baldwin (Kansas) 
a temporary magnetic observatory was maintained for the period 1900 to 
1909, and a new, permanent observatory was then established at Tucson, 
Arizona, which has been in continuous operation since 1909. Thus, 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey has at present five magnetic observato- 
ries, ranging in longitude from 65°.4 W. (Vieques) to i58°.i W. (Hono- 
lulu), and in latitude from i8°.i N. (Vieques) to 57°.o N. (Sitka) and 
embracing an area larger than is under the control of any other national 
institution engaged in magnetic work. 

It is of great importance, in view of the universal approval of the 
activity in magnetic work of the United States Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey, first, that its present five observatory stations be maintained unin- 
terruptedly for many, many years, and, secondly, that additional observa- 
tories be established in the vicinity of the Canal Zone, and especially at 
our island possession, Guam. With the addition of the latter station, 
the magnetic observatories of the Coast and Geodetic Survey would extend 
almost halfway around the globe. Is it too much to hope for this exten- 
sion of the observatory work, when we recall that it is through the earth's 
magnetic fluctuations — through its "magnetic pulse," so to speak — that 
we are made cognizant of mysterious forces the knowledge of which may 
be of the greatest value? 



24 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

The total annual appropriation to cover all the incidental expenses of 
the magnetic-survey work and of the observatory work, including the 
cost of observatory buildings, instruments, general equipments, and also 
the salaries of 10 observers, is $25,000, or only about 2 per cent of the 
present total annual appropriation for all the varied operations of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. I believe that sufficient evidence has been 
presented in this paper to show that the 2 per cent is being well spent 
and that returns of great value are being obtained. 

Could the annual funds for the magnetic work be increased by $5,000, 
it would be possible to establish and maintain the highly desired addi- 
tional magnetic observatory at Guam. Could the increase be as much 
as $10,000, so as to make the annual budget for magnetic work $35,000, 
two additional magnetic observatories could be established and main- 
tained, and provision be made for the steady and necessary promotion 
of the observers who are devoting themselves zealously and faithfully to 
the work. Were the annual amount $35,000, it would still be only about 
3 per cent of the Survey's total annual appropriation for 1915. 

In conclusion, let me emphasize the fact that all experience tends to 
show that instead of looking upon the establishment of a theory as the 
goal of an investigation, it should ever be regarded merely as a means to 
the goal, the advancement of human knowledge. Theory after theory 
by the most eminent men of science has been proposed, from time to 
time, to account for the secular variation of the earth's magnetism. The 
facts' at the time were so few as to fit the theory fairly well, so that the 
author felt tempted to make predictions. Usually he lived long enough 
to find them far afield. Not infrequently, however, an author had become 
so obsessed with his theory that, if observation did not agree with pre- 
diction, he believed that the former, of course, not the latter, was at 
fault. So eminent a physicist as James Clerk Maxwell uttered a warning 
against this too common tendency of mankind. In writing to Herbert 
Spencer on a subject of controversy in the latter's "First Principles," he 
said: "It is very seldom that any man who tries to form a system can 
prevent his system from forming around him and closing him in before 
he is 40. Hence, the wisdom of putting in some ingredient to check 
crystallization and keep the system in a colloidal condition." 

Fortunately, if we do not allow ourselves to be blinded by misleading, 
empirical formulae, nature will provide abundant ingredients to keep our 
systems in the desired colloidal condition. And these ingredients, as far 
as the subject of this paper is concerned, are those seemingly minor mag- 
netic fluctuations, whose effects during the average span of human life 
are sufficient to upset the calculations of even the finest-spun theories. 
I for one regard these fluctuations as relatively more important than the 
larger ones whose full development none of us, even though he lived to 
the age of Methuselah, would probably see completed. 



Centennial Celebration 25 

So let this be the message of this paper to the Superintendent of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, and to the chief of the division of terrestrial 
magnetism: Let your watchword ever be continued, unceasing, and in- 
telligent observation. Having ever a clear object before you, keeping in 
mind always the demands of man and science alike, it is not improbable 
that you will continue to receive the same appreciative and generous 
support of our Congress as has been accorded the Survey in the past. 

Mr. Jones: I am sure we are all very grateful to Doctor Bauer for show- 
ing us so clearly the great value of determining the variation in the com- 
pass, both to the mariner at sea and the surveyor on land. 

Our next address will be "The Bureau of Standards and Its Relation 
to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey." 

The first Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Professor Hassler, realized 
from the beginning that it was necessary for conducting the work con- 
templated, by the President and Congress to have accurate standards of 
measure in this country. He was farsighted enough to realize that it was 
also necessary for the scientific work which this country was doing or 
would have to undertake that there should also be standards of mass and 
volume. 

During his four years' stay in Europe, while investigating geodetic and 
other surveying methods and instruments he procured standards of length, 
mass, and volume which he brought with him upon his return to the 
United States. This might be called the beginning of the work of the 
division of weights and measures of the Coast Survey. 

From this division was created the Bureau of Standards, which is now 
one of the important scientific organizations of the Federal Government. 

It gives me pleasure to introduce Doctor S. W. Stratton, the Director 
of the Bureau of Standards. 

THE BUREAU OF STANDARDS AND ITS RELATION TO THE UNITED 
STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Doctor Stratton: Mr. Superintendent, ladies, and gentlemen, there is 
so much that the Bureau of Standards owes to the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey that I fear in the time to which I am limited I can do no more 
than pay tribute in an humble way to some of the more important 
points. 

Superintendent Jones has referred to the work of the first superin- 
tendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, F. R. Hassler. Those of you 
who have had an opportunity to look over the early legislation regarding 
weights and measures will find that the subject was recognized in the 
Articles of Federation and in the Constitution. Washington, in his 
first address, pointed out the necessity of making provision for standard 
weights and measures; he repeated this in the second and in the third 



26 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

addresses. Jefferson was ever mindful of this necessity and made 
reports upon it. John Quincy Adams made a report in 1821, which 
has become a classic in weights and measures literature. 

Why was it that in all this time nothing had been done beyond the 
suggestions of legislatures and statesmen? There was something lack- 
ing — it was the man. Jefferson found the man, as shall be seen later. 
It is well known that Jefferson was very much interested in scientific 
matters and was acquainted with all of the scientific men of this country 
at that time. 

When the man (Mr. Hassler) was found, he was at once sent to England 
to procure the necessary instruments for a coast survey. The first and 
most important instrument he secured was the standard of length, the 
basis of all the work to follow in the triangulation of the coast. He 
at the same time contracted for theodolites and other instruments to be 
used in conjunction with the standard of length. 

Mr. Hassler was, indeed, a remarkable man. I consider that he was 
not only the first and foremost man in the scientific work of our country 
at that time but one of the leading, if not the leading, metrologists of 
his day. I doubt if there were more than half a dozen people in the world 
at that time who possessed the scientific knowledge and the deftness of 
the artisan necessary to undertake this work. He knew where to find 
the instruments; he knew where to find the artisans to construct the 
standards and apparatus that were necessary in the survey and in the 
weights and measures work. In addition, he had studied in the leading 
countries of Europe and had collected a wonderful library of books, a 
most unusual thing for one of that day. This will be referred to later. 

As you of the Coast and Geodetic Survey know, when the set of instru- 
ments secured abroad by Mr. Hassler arrived, the coast survey work for 
the time being was abandoned. The instruments were stored. Mr. Hass- 
ler states that in the interval he assisted in fixing the northern boundary 
fine of the United States, performed some duties at West Point, and 
sometimes refers to his farm up in New York, in which he, no doubt, 
took a great interest. 

The real work in connection with weights and measures in this country 
began with the reorganization of the Coast Survey. Mr. Hassler was 
made its first superintendent. In this work he used the standards 
which he himself had brought to this country. It is remarkable that 
when he came to this country he brought with him one of the best 
standards of length of the day, upon which he later based the coast- 
survey work, not expecting, so far as I can learn, to have any connection 
with the scientific work of his adopted country. 

At the reorganization of the Coast Survey, or very soon thereafter, 
the Senate by resolution directed the Secretary of the Treasury to examine 
the weights and measures of the customhouses. Up to this time the 
various customhouses had worked independently of each other; they 



Centennial Celebration 27 

used separate weights and measures from wherever they could be ob- 
tained — most of them came from England — and in some cases the 
customhouses depended upon the ordinary standards of the local officials. 

Mr. Hassler's report of this duty is one of the most interesting docu- 
ments I have ever read. It is as fascinating as any romance. It is, 
indeed, too bad that we have to look to his defenses for the real and 
interesting facts of this great work. Then, as now, auditors and account- 
ing agents were always looking for discrepancies in the accounts of 
Government employees. Scientific men, then, as now, were strictly 
honest, and they thought that everybody ought to know it, and they 
naturally resented any questioning of their accounts. The most inter- 
esting part of this report consists of the replies that Mr. Hassler made to 
these alert employees of the disbursing and auditing offices, and I am 
going to quote from one or two of them merely because they give us 
some very interesting history, history that refers closely to the origin of 
our weights and measures. 

When he was given the duty of examining these standards he might 
have contented himself merely by gathering together the standards of 
the customhouses, comparing them, and then adopting something that 
was uniform, but being a man of scientific attainments and a metrol- 
ogist in the strict sense of the word, he foresaw that the commerce of the 
country would depend upon this work, that the weights and measures 
of the country would follow those of the Government, and that eventually 
we must come to uniform standards. 

Now let us examine the history, the documentary evidence of the 
standards that he got together and compared, and I must pause here to 
say that this comparison was such as would do credit to any of the 
members of the Bureau of Standards to-day. I now quote from his 
report, made about 1831 or 1832, to the President of the Senate upon the 
work that he was delegated to do. The State Department, through 
gifts from other nations, had a few standards, which he involved in this 
comparison. 

Vouchers upon the origin and authenticity of the standards included in this 
comparison, other than those from the State Department. 

1. Standards from the collection of instruments for the coast survey. 

The accuracy of the unit of length measure to be employed in the coast survey, was 
such an indispensable requisite, that I took, of course, all necessary measures to 
obtain it, when I was in Europe to procure instruments for that work. The French 
metre is the absolute unit of length which has been the most accurately determined. 
It is presented multiplied in the original by 15 bars of iron and one bar of platinum, 
cut to that length; and the temperature of melting ice, or 32 Fahrenheit, is the 
standard temperature for the same. 

The English standard of length consisted, until the late changes made in England, 
in a brass scale of undefined length, divided into inches and tenths of inches, the 
mean of which, for any length, measured upon as many parts of the scale as found 
proper, was considered a standard of that length, at the standard temperature of 
62 Fahrenheit. As it was naturally desirable that the distances of the survey would 



28 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

be given in both lengths, I caused Mr. Troughton, in London, to construct the scale 
of 82 inches English, quoted in the preceding list, which he made by doubling his 
own scale, after having made a new table of errors, to correct this transfer by it, from 
the same he had already divided the scale of Sir George Shuckburg Evelin, which 
has served for his comparison in 1795, and since for those lately made by Captain Kater. 
This scale, the accuracy of which within itself is exhibited by the statement to be 
seen in the detailed account of the operation of the present comparison, forms, there- 
fore, a direct link to unite the present comparison with the late English determina- 
tions of the yard and pendulum, as well as the general means of comparison. 

Mr. Lenoir, the mechanician, of Paris, who constructed the metres for the Committee 
of Weights and Measures, having, at the same time with those above quoted, stand- 
arded a brass metre for himself, at the temperature of 32° Fahrenheit, I procured a 
copy of the same, which was compared at the Observatory of Paris with the metre 
there preserved. The certificate signed by Messrs. Bouvard and Arago states it to be 
too short for 1-100 part of a millimetre, or 0.000393810 of an English inch, and is dated 
16th of March, 1813. 

The iron toise was also made by Lenoir, and compared at the Observatory at Paris 
by Messrs. Bouvard and Arago, under the above date. 

Having by the above so much of the standards, I found it proper, and hoped in fu- 
ture useful, to make the small additional expense of procuring also accurate weights. 
The balance of Troughton, with grain weights, which were again exactly verified by 
him. Of Fortin, the mechanician in Paris who had constructed the weights, and 
litres modeles for the Committee of Weights and Measures, I procured two subdivided 
cubical kilograms, with the decimals to the milligramme, and two litres modeles; 
by procuring two individuals of each kind, I obtained the indication of the degree of 
accuracy with which they are made, and their coincidence has been very satisfactory. 

Right there is an indication that he was an experienced metrologist. 
He got two of the articles in order to find their variation. 

2. The Philosophical Society in Philadelphia is in possession of several, and, in 
their kind, the most valuable standards; which I brought with me to this country on 
my arrival in 1805. I was favored with a loan of them for the present comparison. 

The iron metre is one of the original standards made by the Committee of Weights 
and Measures, as quoted above. 

That part of the work being under the special direction of Professor Tralles, my 
friend and teacher in mathematics, member of the committee, as deputy from the 
Helvetic Republic, he made three of the above iron metres more than what was re- 
quired for the deputies present; one of these he made a present to me, which is the 
one here compared. It is, therefore, fully accurate, and of original authenticity. 

The same is the case with the kilogram of the society. Its origin and history is in 
every thing exactly the same, except that it was Mr. Van Swinden, deputy from the 
Batavian Republic, who had the special care of their construction. The one present 
is No. 2, as a label in the box indicates. A private paper of Mr. Tralles, in my pos- 
session, not yet printed, detailing the ultimate comparisons of the metres, the kilo- 
gram, and also those of the toises, designated this kilogram No. 2 as entirely exact. 

The toise of Canivet, of 1768, I purchased in Paris, in 1796, from the heirs of the 
late Mr. Dionis Dusejour. It is in perfect preservation, being guarded by a matrix, 
so as never to expose its determining ends; it has marked on the reverse the double 
length of the pendulum under the equator, which indicates its having been designed 
for the comparison; when, at the epoch of its construction, this length was proposed 
as an unit standard from nature. 

The society possesses, also, two copies of the well known toises of Lalande, made by 
myself, on the occasion of my triangulation of Switzerland in 1791. They were 



Centennial Celebration 29 

included in my comparison for the coast survey, but I did not find proper to make 
them enter into the present. 

3. The Treasury Department acquired of me lately the standards which I had yet 
in my possession for my private use. The scale of 52 inches has also marked upon it 
the distance 51.2 from Sir George Shuckburg's scale. On account of that, I immedi- 
ately purchased it from Mr. Troughton, when I saw it in his workshop, as it furnished 
a direct comparison with that scale; which has become of great importance by its use 
in the English comparisons. 

Before I delivered the instruments for the coast survey, when that work was inter- 
rupted, I laid off upon it, 1st, from the middle of the large scale of Troughton the 
divisions in tenths of inches; 2d, the metre from the brass metre of Lenoir, in the 
coast survey collection; 3rd, the half toise from the half of the toise of Canivet. 

The yard between platinum dots, I procured from Mr. Troughton, upon yet imper- 
fect information upon the new yard established by the last English determinations, 
which proved what since became public; and the result of the present comparison 
shows: that it is actually only the old exchequer yard that was adopted: it is less than 
the exchequer copy of the State Department, of Jones, only by 0.00005275 of an inch. 

The Amsterdam foot was marked upon it, on account of its frequent occurrence in 
the measurement of land and lots in New York upon old titles; and for this also its 
comparison result, given in this report, may be useful. 

The brass metre of Fortin I had acquired in this. country from an European scientific 
gentleman, finding it in full good preservation. Fortin certifies it to be fully correct, 
under date 24th December, 1824. 

Knowing the occasions I would have to compare standards, I had an iron bar con- 
structed for myself, at the same time as those intended for the base measuring appara- 
tus, which are all equal in breadth and thickness to the original iron metres of the 
committee. This I intended to convert into a metre for myself; when near, still above 
the proper length, it was taken up in the comparisons made for the coast survey, where 
an additional metre was needed. Only on the occasion of the present comparison, I 
had the opportunity to adjust it fully, it being besides necessary for the comparison of 
the iron metres by combination. 

The troy pound I had brought with me to this country in 1805. It was made in 
Switzerland by a careful artist of Arau, Mr. Esser, after one that I had received from 
Mr. Troughton. Mr. Patterson, Director of the Mint in Philadelphia, compared it in 
1805, with the troy pound of the Mint then in use, and found them exactly equal; but 
the Mint pound having since been in frequent use, while I preserved mine always 
carefully, on a comparison made, in the fall of 1830, the former was found considerably 
lighter. 

4. The troy pound of the United States' Mint at Philadelphia, was made by Captain 
Kater, purposely for the Mint, upon the request of Mr. Gallatin, who considered this 
an authority far superior to the comparison of the Exchequer. The weight is in form 
similar to those made by Kater for the Exchequer, and enclosed within its box, in a 
brass form, upon which is engraved, Pound Troy, 1824, Bate, London. A detailed 
certificate of Captain Kater, dated London, 30th June, 1827, certifies to the com- 
parison, and quotes the ultimate experiments with the same. A certificate of Mr. 
Gallatin, of the 24th July, 1827, testifies to its origin, and President Adams, under date 
of 13th October, 1827, to the safe and undisturbed reception thereof, so as to warrant 
full trust in its accuracy. 

The mark weights of Madrid and of Mexico were also received by authority; the 
former, called marco-castilliano, is one of the two made at Madrid upon orders of Mr. 
Everett, ambassador of the United States, and found exactly equal to that at the 
Madrid Mint, as certified by him under date of 30th January, 1827. It arrived en- 
tirely safe and well preserved at the Mint of Philadelphia, as testified by the officers of 
the Mint, 9th August, 1828. 



30 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

The Mexican mark was procured from the Mint in Mexico, with the standard of 
which it was found exactly equal, by Mr. Poinsett, United States' ambassador there, 
as testified by him under date of 30th February, 1828. It was received in perfect 
order at the Mint, as testified by the officers thereof, 9th August, 1828. 

5. When the present comparison was already in a considerable state of forwardness, 
information was received, that there was still extant, in the custom-house of New 
Hampshire, a set of standards of weights and capacity measures, from the old pro- 
vincial Government of that State. Upon the request of the Treasury Department, 
they were forwarded here by the collector, and proved a valuable acquisition to the 
object of this comparison. 

They bear generally the stamp of G. I., besides that of the Exchequer; are, 
generally speaking, in good preservation; but unfortunately, since the report inserted 
of them in the Report upon Weights and Measures of the honorable late President, 
John Q. Adams, they were sent to Boston for verification, where several capacity meas- 
ures were reduced, by means of lead fixed in their bottoms. This was evidently in- 
tended to bring them down to the newer standards, which appear generally to have 
suffered a reduction by negligence. The weights appeared not to have been altered, 
except the 14 and 56 lb., which had a little lead added to the bottom. 

6. The two brass metres of the Engineer Department have no special authority or 
certificate, except the name of the maker, Lenoir, engraved upon them. 

7 . The city of New York having procured a set of copies of the Exchequer standards, 
they were lent to the State Government to make standards for the State from them. 

And so on. A number of others were secured in the same way, showing 
that he realized that the first step necessary was to procure the most 
accurate scientific standards in existence. 

We will now pass on to another of these replies to the auditor's criti- 
cisms. Looking through this most remarkable report we find him charged, 
by implication at least, of selling his books to the Military Academy at 
West Point, and again selling them to the Coast Survey. And this is 
his reply : 

The manner in which this article of the sale of F. R. H.'s books is treated is such 
as he must repel as a highly improper attack upon his character, in consequence of 
which it must become one of the articles of special investigation, because it is thereby 
intimated as if he had made a double sale of the same books to the government. Not- 
withstanding he does not consider himself bound to give account to any man upon the 
manner in which he disposes of his property, he has also no secrets, and therefore will 
place here the whole history of his library, of which much is contained already in 
former communications. F. R. H. had (as is still easily proveable), from the age of 
16, in Europe, begun the selection of a scientific library, which, shortly before he left 
his native country, amounted to nearly 5,000 volumes; all the most valuable classical 
books in their branches, in diplomacy, history, law, mathematics, natural philosophy, 
and ancient classics; not a single common poet, novel, or such like ephemeral book, 
being in it. Intending to leave the country where the diplomatic and law part of 
his library applied to his occupations in public life, he sold that part of it, and came 
to this country in 1805, with about 3,000 volumes of books of all the most select ancient 
and modern classical, in natural and mathematical sciences, a great number of them 
very scarce, and no more to be obtained, but accidentally, as he had the occasion for 
during the time of his studies in Paris, Gottingen, etc., and paying often S15 and more 
for a volume; all of which can be proved by living witnesses in this country. Of the 
diplomatic part remaining some were sold to the library of congress. 

Besides that, he brought a number of instruments, standard weights and measures, 
which are now yet the only equally accurate and authentic ones in this country, 
whence they are employed by him as principal means for the comparisons of weights 



Centennial Celebration 31 

and measures, that have been presented by him in the report to congress upon that 
subject. (See the report itself, which was so highly approved in Europe and in this 
country.) 

This attracted to him the men of science in Philadelphia, who shortly after selected 
him a member of the Philosophical Society there without his knowledge; these de- 
clared that such a valuable library and collection of instruments had never before 
come to this country (and it can be added, never since); they gave to the then Presi- 
dent, Jefferson, information upon him, with a notice upon his former life, as proved 
by his documents, among which were the notices of the triangulation he had begun 
in Switzerland in 1791, and been interrupted by the Revolution. 

This cricumstance gave life to the idea that had been entertained then already for 
some years, particularly by President Jefferson and other eminent men of that time, 
to get, by means of F. R. H.'s experience, the so much needed work of the Coast 
Survey executed; wherefore he was spoken to, before the law itself was proposed that 
passed in 1807. 

When in 181 1 F. R. H. was sent to Europe for the procuring of instruments and 
books for the government, he also augmented his private collection; but finding it 
proper on his part to use the public funds intrusted to him only for the greater objects 
of immediate want for the Coast Survey works, he bought on government's account 
only the closest needed books of those times, as he also referred many smaller instru- 
ments to be procured later, when needed. 

In selling what he called the remainder of his library, to the Military Academy at 
West Point, (the history of which transaction is even not very edifying,) it could not 
be expected that a man accustomed to books for his companions from childhood, 
would divest himself of the last book he had. It is besides evident that he, in such 
a case, will reserve by preference just such books that are the closest connected with 
his favorite occupation. In the present case, therefore, naturally just, the most 
valuable and most practical works for geodetical, astronomical, and similar purposes, 
were reserved. 

Had not the Coast Survey been again intrusted to F. R. H., and had he not thought 
he could this time trust upon the stability of the government in maintaining a measure, 
taken with proper reflection and consultation of past experience, he would never 
have thought of parting with these books for the benefit of the work. This is what 
is refused, and even tried to be turned into suspicion against his character. 

So far, however, as the accounts are concerned, (the other part belongs to the called- 
for investigation,) this difficulty is fully settled. F. R. H. has returned the money, 
and will take back the books again. He will never more offer or sell them to the 
government, nor direct the purchase of a single book for government's account, as it 
is decided by the Fourth Auditor that the assistants of the Coast Survey shall not 
be provided with means of instruction in their functions. 

If any man of sceince had read and compared the two catalogues which both are 
among the documents of the Coast Survey, that of the books received from West 
Point, and that of those transferred by F. R. H., he would immediately have seen 
the distinctly different character of the two collections, and that many of the books 
of F. R. Hasslcr's transfer were not even in existence at the time of the sale to West 
Point, many being presents from the scentific men and societies in Europe, and even 
from the Admiralty of England. 

And I again ask your indulgence just for a moment. You all know 
how, periodically, the question of carriages and automobiles comes up 
in the Government sendee in connection with the auditing of accounts. 
I will read another of these documents, because of the interesting infor- 
mation it contains regarding the history of Mr. Hassler. This one is in 



32 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

reply to charge No. 9 by the Auditor's Office of the Treasury Depart- 
ment concerning the purchase of a carriage. Superintendent Hassler 
goes on to state : 

The purchase of the carriage, or rather Jersey wagon, with springs, is for the first 
onset grounded upon a special letter to that effect, addressed to the Treasury Depart- 
ment the 23rd November, 1816. In 1832 this was fully sanctioned by the reference 
of the Treasury Department to the former arrangements that are confirmed by it, and 
to propositions given in at that time by F. R. H. sanctioned by the reference to them. 
The whole history of the carriage (which Colonel Abert can attest) is the following: 

It was at first intended to carry the instruments by hand from station to station, 
like F. R. H. was used to have it done in the rugged mountains of Switzerland. This, 
however, was found by far too cumbersome and expensive (as already stated). The 
habitual construction of carriages was found, as well in form as in softness of motion, 
entirely inadmissable, as much so as common wagons. To transport safely several 
delicate instruments of about one hundred and more pounds each, with a number of 
smaller ones, etc. which would have been useless if not transported carefully over 
bad mountain roads, was the question to be solved. Therefore, in consultation with 
the then accounting officer, (Colonel Abert, who can testify to every point,) it was 
decided to propose a peculiar conveyance, to be constructed for that purpose, which 
was immediately agreed to by the Treasury Department, by answer to F. R. H. that 
he must be the best judge upon the means of conveyance: that this included also the 
horses is an evident consequence — (see the letter quoted). Then F. R. H., with the 
assistance of a man in his own wages, placed in a corner of his room in Newark all 
the larger instruments, with their boxes, that were to be used at every station gen- 
erally, and directed the coach-maker (Campfield, of Newark, yet living) to take the 
measure for the box that would hold them, just snugly pressed against each other, so 
as to prevent all jarring and shaking; and to mount this in the form of a kind of 
barouche, or what it may be found proper to call it, with a top folding down, for the 
shelter against rain when up, and to pass under the branches of trees when down, 
which was an absolute requisite, — for which, as also for greater security, the wheels 
were made lower than habitual, and upon the wide rut; and hang it upon good C 
springs and thorough braces, etc.; the instrument boxes having to stand even, while 
to obtain the proper effect of the springs and thorough braces requires a rounded 
bottom, the space between formed a double bottom, in which the smaller instruments, 
tools, journals, etc. always were transported; for the telescope, a large sword-case (as 
generally called) was added to the back of the carriage-box. This all forms the odd 
appearance by which this conveyance is known, as well as by the complete absence 
of all luxury. This proves all: that the second article of the older contract, quoted 
by the Fourth Auditor's letter, has nothing to do with the horses and the carriage, 
which were specially authorized, once for all, and confirmed by the agreement of 
1832, which positively says — that the arrangement of the first agreement shall be 
continued, and refers particularly to F. R. H. 's previous propositions, in which these 
objects, with many others, were mentioned as necessary; therefore also the resulting 
expenditures passed in the accounts rendered to the First Auditor, who had all the 
necessary papers to assist a proper judgment, which the Fourth Auditor must obtain, 
if he has them not. 

The above carriage having been sold at auction in 1819, after the Coast Survey was 
broken up for the first time, and while F. R. H. was engaged at the boundary line with 
Canada, he purchased it, together with the two horses that were sold at the same time, 
because it was needed for the use in that work ; but his leaving that employment left 
him the whole upon hand as a useless loss, and he used it only to move to his farm in 
Jefferson county, New York, where it remained well sheltered until the Coast Survey 
came again into his hands in 1832, when it was immediately brought to his former 



Centennial Celebration 33 

maker in Newark, N. J. New wheels and axletrees were made to it, and it was other- 
wise put in full repair, at the expense of F. R. H. , so as to be really better than a new 
one would have been, obtained at that time. Then it was again transferred to the 
Coast Survey sendee, its original destination, where it might long yet render service 
in its destined capacity. The price set upon it, which the coach-maker who mended 
it said was cheap, was S500. It stood F. R. H. in the amount of Si, 000, by the unfor- 
tunate circumstance of the failing of the aim of its employment in the northern bound- 
ary line. 

The economy which this transfer and the purchase of the horses for the Coast Survey 
effect was very great, as the work could immediately proceed, while the construction 
of a new carriage of the same kind, which would have been unavoidable, which would 
have cost far more, and have delayed the whole remainder of the campaign of 1832, 
and the hire in the meantime would have cost more than all these purchases. 

And there are still more of these intensely interesting documents. 

When I first came to Washington in 1898 and visited the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey I was impressed with the character of the weights and 
measures instruments. Congress, after Mr. Hassler's report, directed the 
Coast Survey to furnish all of the States with copies of the standards which 
the Secretary of the Treasury had constructed for the customhouses. He 
constructed these copies for the customhouses without congressional direc- 
tion, but was directed to furnish them to the States. This was really 
the beginning of the Office of Weights and Measures as a separate institu- 
tion, but, of course, the Office of Weights and Measures was, as before, 
under the direct supervision of the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. 
It served the Survey as well as the Customs Service and to a very limited 
extent the public. 

The entire work of constructing these standards, and the balances by 
which they were used, both for the States and for the customhouses, is 
one of the most remarkable pieces of work of that kind ever done, and it 
was accomplished under the most trying circumstances. 

I have been told by an officer of the New Jersey Zinc Company that 
the hole still exists where the zinc was mined for the brass; that the 
copper was brought from Switzerland, and that the workmen were 
imported from abroad. But this I do know, that the work, done by 
hand in many cases and with the crudest sort of tools, was equal in 
many respects to that of the best workmen of to-day. 

The work of the weights and measures division was forwarded by the 
Superintendents of the Coast Survey, notably by Bache, Hilgard, Men- 
denhall, and others, and in this Office of Weights and Measures there 
was a direct line of succession, as it were, one or more persons at all 
times being directly engaged in this work of metrology, and following 
the principles laid down by Superintendent Hassler. The Bureau of 
Standards inherited not only the Office of Weights and Measures, but 
inherited its personnel, and with it the chief of our weights and measures 
division at the Bureau of Standards, Mr. Fischer, and he, in a metro- 
logical sense, is a direct descendant of Mr. Hassler. It has remained 
44282°— 16 3 



34 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

for the Bureau of Standards to make useful those standards which were 
sent to the different States. 

When the Bureau of Standards was established, we were surprised to 
find that the States were doing little with these standards; things were 
at a standstill. And why ? For the same reason they were at a standstill 
in the National Government until Mr. Hassler took charge. There was 
no provision by the States for their use. They were considered as sou- 
venirs and stored away. It was necessary to have the personnel and the 
mechanism for making these standards available to the public, and that 
is what our Office of Weights and Measures is doing to-day, directly and 
indirectly through State officials. 

I want also to mention another fact, which I think ought to be known 
and placed to the credit of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. When I first 
came to Washington and met the Superintendent of the Survey, he asked 
me to join his force temporarily and make a report as to what could be 
done to place the weights and measures work upon the basis necessary 
in the present day of precision measurements of all kinds. I made two 
reports, one based upon the enlargement of that work to the extent pos- 
sible in its present quarters, and dealing solely with weights and measures 
of the kind we have been speaking. The other suggested the estab- 
lishment of an institution having weights and measures functions in the 
broadest sense, covering measurements in the various lines of physics, the 
properties of materials and physical constants, etc., data which are 
needed to-day as much as standard pounds and yards. 

It was the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Doctor 
Pritchett, who saw that the second plan was the preferable one. He 
recommended it to the Treasury Department, and the Secretary of the 
Treasury directed that a bill be drawn looking toward the establishment 
of such an institution. Here, again, was a thing remarkable for a 
Government bureau, the suggestion of the separation from it of a part 
of its work. I think those of you who are connected with Government 
work will realize just what that meant. 

The history of the Bureau of Standards is well known to you. It was 
established in 1901, and its principal work is standards, standardization, 
and methods of measurement, the result of which is the introduction of 
scientific methods and precision where formerly inaccuracy or even the 
absence of measurements prevailed. To-day the relations between that 
Bureau and the Coast and Geodetic Survey are as intimate as ever the 
relations were between the old Office of Weights and Measures and the 
Coast Survey. The Bureau of Standards serves the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, as well as many or practically all of the other bureaus of the 
Government service ; they are all working harmoniously together in this 
respect. 

In conclusion, I have three or four slides showing some of the early 
standards. It will take but just a moment to show them, but before 
projecting them upon the screen I wish to make the suggestion that at 



Centennial Celebration 35 

this centennial celebration the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Bureau 
of Standards unite in securing the establishment in this city of a suitable 
memorial to its first superintendent, F. R. Hassler. 

These views will be very much enlarged, but it should be borne in 
mind that the lengths are in yards, feet, etc. 

Figure 4 is the Troy pound, procured in 1827 from England by Albert 
Gallatin, then minister of the United States at London, and used as the 
standard for the coining of money until just a few years ago. The avoir- 
dupois pound adopted by Mr. Hassler as the standard was derived from 
this. Troy pound, the Troy pound having 5,760 grains and the avoirdu- 
pois pound 7,000 grains. 

Figure 5 is a view of the United States prototype kilograms, showing 
the way they are kept at the Bureau. The one on the right is known as 
kilogram No. 20 and that on the left is known as kilogram No. 4. Thev 
were acquired in 1890 and are copies of the international standard kilo- 
gram in the custody of the International Bureau of Weights and Meas- 
ures situated near Paris and under the control of an international com- 
mittee, one of the members of which is the United States. There are 
now 26 countries maintaining at joint expense the International Bureau, 
established in 1875, for the custody and comparison of the fundamental 
international metric standards, to which all metric units, measurements, 
and national standards of the world are referred. The prototype kilo- 
gram superseded in the United States in 1893 the old Arago kilogram 
used since 1821, in which year it was procured for this country by Mr. 
Gallatin while minister to France. 

Figure 6 represents one of the balances. It was just as necessary to 
have balances as to have weights. These balances were made and dis- 
tributed to the different States. 

Figure 7 represents the new platinum-iridium meter. It was brought 
to this country in 1890, and adopted as the standard for all measure- 
ments in 1893. All of our measurements are referred to this meter. 
One of the most important things that the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
ever did in connection with the subject of metrology was to suggest the 
fixing of the relation between the meter and the yard. This was done 
under Superintendent Mendenhall. It was promulgated by Executive 
order, so that to-day the meter, representing as it does the most refined 
standard, serves as the standard length for both systems of measurements. 

Figure 8 is the committee meter, brought to this country by Super- 
intendent Hassler in. 1805 and presented by him to the American Philo- 
sophical Society of Philadelphia shortly after his arrival. When he was 
put in charge of the Coast Survey, he secured the bar from the Philo- 
sophical Society, and it remained in the possession of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey until the establishment of the Bureau of Standards in 
1901. The committee meter has since been superseded by the new 
platinum-iridium meter. 



36 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 4.— TROY POUND STANDARD 



Centennial Celebration 



37 




FIG. 5.-STANDARD KILOGRAM 




FIG. 6.— STANDARD BALANCE 




FIG. 7.-PLATINUM-IRIDIUM METER 



38 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 8.— COMMITTEE METER 




FIG. 9.— BRONZE YARD No. 




FIG. 10.-SET OF HISTORICAL STANDARDS 



Centennial Celebration 



39 




40 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Figure 9 is the brass yard, known as bronze yard No. 11, sent to this 
Government by Great Britain in 1856. It was the standard of length 
in this country until the meter was adopted. You will observe in the 
enlarged view of the bar, which is now on its side, a circular recess; in 
the bottom of the recess is a small spot ; that is a plug of gold on which 
is a fine line marking the end of the bar. 

Figure 10 shows some of the old standards, probably from the State 
Department weights and measures. 

Figure 1 1 is a set of the standards furnished to each State. There is 
the half -bushel on the left, the liquid measure on the right, etc. I have 
never seen better work by an instrument maker than this set of 
standards. 

Mr. Jones : I am sure we are grateful to Doctor Stratton for telling 
us of the early history of the Bureau of Standards and its past rela- 
tions to the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

I am very sorry that Admiral J. E. Pillsbury who was to speak to 
us next, is ill, but I am glad to say that his paper has been sent us 
and it will be made a part of our record and printed later in an official 
document. 

OCEAN CURRENTS AND DEEP-SEA EXPLORATIONS OF THE UNITED 
STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Rear Admiral Pillsbury : I have been honored by an invitation from 
the Superintendent to lend my assistance toward the proper celebration 
of this, the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey. 

"While my experience was varied between the hydrographic inspector's 
office and the coast pilot division, and afloat, it was mostly the latter. 
For five years I was in command of the steamer Blake, each winter of 
which, at least, was devoted to the investigation of the Gulf Stream cur- 
rents and those contributing thereto. It is of the work of the Coast Sur- 
vey in this direction that I am to speak to you this afternoon. 

Columbus first noticed the currents contributory to the Gulf Stream in 
both the eastern and western Caribbean. Ponce de Leon found it in the 
Straits of Florida when he was in search of the "Fountain of Youth." 
Alaminos, one of Cortez's captains, took advantage of knowledge of the 
stream in the endeavor to make a quick passage from Mexico to Spain 
with dispatches. In the north the Cabots, about 1500, realized the fact 
of an easterly current in crossing the Atlantic. Later, the British divided 
their American colonizing voyages into tw T o parts because of the currents 
in the northern Atlantic, the New England ships crossing in high northern 
latitudes, the Alrginia ships running south to the trade winds and even 
sometimes into the Caribbean and thence north to their destination on 
the southern Atlantic coast. 



Centennial Celebration 41 

To Benjamin Franklin is due the credit of the first examination of the 
Gulf Stream between New York and Europe, his method being to take 
the temperature of the water frequently as the vessel proceeded on her 
way across the ocean either east or west. His idea was obtained from 
Nantucket whaling captains who observed that certain whales were found 
near the warmer water but not within its limit. 

Later, Doctor Blagden of the Royal Army; Pownall, formerly governor 
of Massachusetts; Humboldt, Colonel Sabine, Major Runnell, and others 
also investigated the Gulf Stream, and most of them published their ideas. 
All of them were based upon the temperature of the surface water, upon 
the drift of bottles, or upon the difference between the observed and the 
dead-reckoning position of ships traversing the ocean. 

It was not until the administration of Professor A. D. Bache as Superin- 
tendent of the Coast Survey that a systematic examination of the Gulf 
Stream was begun. In 1845 the Washington was commissioned under the 
command of Lieutenant C. H. Davis, afterwards rear admiral and super- 
intendent of the Naval Observatory. The orders he received were most 
comprehensive. They were to determine its limits, surface and subsur- 
face, whether constant or variable, depending upon winds, how recog- 
nized, whether by temperature, soundings, forms of vegetable or animal 
life, or specific gravity of its water, etc. 

From 1845 to 1853 various vessels of the Survey under many com- 
manders continued the examination from the Straits of Florida to and 
beyond Cape Hatteras. The depth of water and the character of the bot- 
tom were determined, but the actual limit of the flow was assumed to be 
where the water was found to be warm. The highest temperature was 
assumed to be the axis, and a considerable fall on its inshore side its limit. 
It was also found that there were certain bands of varying temperature, 
warm and cool, and these were assumed to be all within the limits of the 
stream itself. In a map published at the time, the stream is represented 
as issuing from the Straits of Florida, where it is about 40 miles in width, 
and spreading out in the warm and cold bands until it is about 120 miles 
in width southeast of Hatteras. The only record of the velocity of the 
current was the difference between the dead-reckoning and the astro- 
nomical positions of the vessels engaged in the work. 

After i860 Gulf Stream investigation ceased until 1867, when Professor 
Henry Mitchell of the Coast Survey sounded between Key West and 
Habana and observed the current to 600 fathoms by a new method. He 
used three cans, one weighted and suspended from the second of equal 
dimensions on the surface, while a third can was connected with the one 
on the surface by a light reel and log line. Upon signal, the floats were 
released for a given time and the difference between the single can and the 
pair, as retarded by the can below, gave data for calculating the sub- 
current. An anchored boat or buoy was used as an initial point whenever 
the depth of water permitted, and this method of observing currents was 



42 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

continued in use by the Survey for 1 5 years or more in offshore or deep- 
sea work. 

The method, however, was one which lends itself only to what may be 
called tentative results. Observations were, as a rule, confined to a 
single set at various depths at the same station, and although sometimes 
they were continued longer, as, for example, in the Gulf of Maine, where 
the water is shoal, in deep-sea work the results, because of lack of con- 
tinuity, were of no value in establishing the laws governing the flow. 

In old times it was the practice on board all men-of-war, when on deep- 
sea voyages, to throw a bottle overboard at noon each day containing a 
paper stating the position of the ship with a request to the finder to for- 
ward it to some United States official with a statement as to the locality 
where found. The Survey had bottles made of convenient size and heav- 
ily ballasted in the making so that they would float mostly submerged 
and thus be but little exposed to the influence of the wind. They were, 
however, still floating on the surface and were subjected for their course 
at sea not so much to the direct force of the wind as to the wave caused 
by it, be it ever so light. 

His Highness, the Prince of Monaco, used this method, at first to dis- 
cover the cause of the departure of sardines from the west coast of France, 
and later, to determine the currents in the eastern Atlantic. His floats 
were barrels, bottles, and especially constructed copper globes. The 
barrels and globes were ballasted by a weight suspended by iron wire sev- 
eral feet below the surface, so that by the time the pair accumulated an 
undue quantity of barnacles and grass the ballast would become detached 
through the rusting of the suspending wire and the float itself had thus a 
longer life. He put overboard from his yacht about 1,700 of these floats 
during the three years 1885 to 1887, the first year off the coast of France, 
the second 170 miles northwest of the Azores, and the third between the 
Azores and Newfoundland. This was the most extensive and systematic 
endeavor to search out the eastern Atlantic currents that has ever been 
undertaken by this or any other means. 

We now come to the time when the Coast Survey decided to make the 
endeavor to observe the Gulf Stream currents by means of a vessel at 
anchor and continued as long as possible at each station in order to arrive 
at some conclusion as to the variability of the flow. Professor Hilgard, 
the Superintendent, gave every support to the hydrographic inspector, 
Commander Chester, in arranging the details of the investigation, and 
Lieutenant Fremont, in command of the schooner Drift was ordered to 
carry them out. 

The vessel was supplied with about 700 fathoms of wire rope three- 
quarters of an inch in diameter, and instructions were issued to anchor 
at various places along the coast near the 100-fathom curve and also in 
the Gulf Stream east of Jupiter Inlet, Florida. The Drift was a deep-keel 
schooner of about 100 tons. Not having steam power, the operations 



Centennial Celebration 43 

of anchoring and heaving in this wire rope was by hand power alone, so 
the difficulties to be overcome for the officers and crew were very great. 
In spite of these, the Drift occupied five stations between Jupiter Inlet 
and Memory Rock, Bahamas, the greatest depth being 400 fathoms. The 
current observations were still by the method of floating cans attached 
to a log line. It was discovered that contrary to expectations the maxi- 
mum flow was not at the supposed middle of the stream, but was to the 
westward of it. The depth here was only 190 fathoms and the location 
some 10 miles to the westward of the supposed axis. 

Although this attempt at arriving at a knowledge of the actual flow of 
the water was by inadequate means, it was the greatest stride that had 
been made toward the solution of the problem, but the use of a sailing 
vessel for the purpose was found to be impracticable. The delay in 
arriving at a station when good weather appeared, and the fact that this 
was impossible in a calm, which was the very time when observations 
would be most accurate; the long hours necessary in heaving up the 
anchor by hand power, and the danger to the vessel in the case of a sudden 
gale while getting under way — all of these reasons brought about the 
decision that a continuation of the work demanded the use of a fully 
equipped steamer. The Blake was decided upon, as she had been engaged 
in dredging and sounding in the deep sea and, being fitted with hoisting 
engines, etc., but little change would be necessary to fit her for the new 
duty. 

The changes, however, were made so that by steam power and a lighter 
anchoring rope the Blake could be quickly anchored in any depth required. 
In getting under way the speed of heaving in at first was 10 or 15 fathoms 
per minute, but after the anchor broke ground up it would come at the 
rate of 50 to 75 fathoms per minute. When you think of Lieutenant 
Fremont in the schooner Drift heaving in the anchoring rope with a hand 
windlass at the rate of 2 or 3 fathoms a minute, you will realize the ad- 
vantage of steam for the purpose. The Blake's deepest anchorage was 
2,300 fathoms and many were made at about 1 ,500 fathoms. This would 
have been impossible without steam gear. 

Hitherto currents had been measured by means of cans, as before 
described. This was a long tedious method and one not fitted to sys- 
tematic research. A current meter was therefore devised which was 
composed of revolving cones to register velocity, a rudder that would 
always tail to the direction of the flowing water, a compass below the 
rudder, which of course always pointed to the north, and an arrangement 
for locking all the elements of the machine upon beginning to hoist it to 
the surface. With this instrument observations were taken at various 
depths in succession for 30 minutes at each depth from 15 to at least 130 
fathoms and repeated as long as the vessel remained at anchor, while a 
second instrument was used for continuous observations at a depth of 
3J/2 fathoms. 



44 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

A project for the systematic survey of the stream was submitted to 
the Superintendent and was carried out as far as could be in the time 
allowed. The first section of the stream to be attacked was at its nar- 
rowest point (between Fowey Rocks, Florida, and Gun Key, Bahamas), in 
order to try to establish the laws governing its flow where it was surely 
all Gulf Stream. Other sections were between Habana and Key West, 
Tortugas and Cuba, and the Yucatan Passage to the westward, and 
various cross sections to the northward and eastward even as far as the 
Newfoundland Banks. There was also contemplated the investigation 
of the equatorial current and the flow into and through the Caribbean 
of the trade-wind current. 

One season and half of another were spent off Fowey Rocks, and others 
were devoted to the sections of Habana, Tortugas, the Straits of Yucatan, 
the equatorial and Caribbean, off Jupiter Inlet and off Cape Hatteras, 
and many other incidental anchorages to add more knowledge to the 
sum total of information. 

It was found in the first season that in the Straits of Florida the stream 
was apparently governed in the strength of its flow by the moon's transit 
in its daily variations and by the moon's declination in its monthly varia- 
tions, and that, as Lieutenant Fremont had found off Jupiter Inlet, the axis 
was situated west of its supposed middle line. Later, in the Straits of 
Yucatan, where the flow is also north, the same conclusions were arrived 
at, and off Cape Hatteras, where the flow is northeast, it was found to 
be the same. 

Then it was found at the axis in the Straits of Florida that while the 
average course of the surface current was north, the subcurrents had a 
slight deflection, depending upon the declination of the moon. At the 
time of the highest declination both north and south this was toward 
the left or westerly, while at zero declination it was toward the east. The 
changes were often but slight, but the mean of all observations showed 
this fact with certainty. 

Another interesting feature of these small changes in direction of the 
subcurrent was the slight differences in temperature of the surface water. 
When the deflections were toward the left the surface temperature at the 
stations on the left of the axis was lower, and when toward the right 
the reverse conditions prevailed. 

Later, one season and a part of another were devoted to the currents 
entering and within the Caribbean, these being contributory to the Gulf 
Stream. It was found that the water entering the Caribbean, as a measur- 
able current, was much less than the volume pouring out through the 
Straits of Florida, which, by calculations deduced from many hundreds 
of observations, was determined to be 90,000,000,000 tons per hour. 

There seem to be two contributory causes to this great current. 
Primarily, the cause is the northeast trade wind. This acts by surface 



Centennial Celebration 45 

friction on the ocean, which produces a shallow current (from 50 to 75 
fathoms in depth). A part of this enters the Caribbean, thence into the 
Gulf of Mexico, and issues through the Straits of Florida into the Atlantic. 

The other cause, however, is the wave action caused by the trade 
winds. When the wind is strong enough to make the waves break, the 
crest of the wave is thrown into the trough, which, in the Caribbean, 
where the trade winds are quite constant, amounts to a simultaneous 
movement of the surface to leeward, thus piling up the water on its 
western shores. This also escapes into the Gulf of Mexico to help swell 
the volume of the current. 

There is another addition of the Gulf Stream when it reaches the 
North Atlantic which comes to it from the part of the trade-wind cur- 
rent flowing north of the West Indian Islands and sweeping around 
east of the Bahamas joining the stream south of Cape Hatteras. Its 
temperature is higher than the stream because it is slow moving; it 
is not interf erred with by the bottom nor mixed with cold water by 
slight changes of direction of the lower currents to such an extent as 
the stream itself is in the confined waters of the Straits of Florida. It 
was this warm outside flow that probably led Professor Bache to conclude 
that the Florida Stream spread out over the Atlantic as soon as it had 
room, when in fact it has about the same width off Hatteras as off Fowey 
Rocks. It is possible, however, that this addition of heated water is of 
greater influence on the climate of Europe than the stream itself. 

We all know that the effect of atmospheric pressure on the ocean 
displaces the water on the coast, as shown by abnormal high or low tides. 
These fluctuations of the barometer were also indicated in the Gulf 
Stream flow. In a final analysis of all the observations it was discovered 
that in every instance where there was great departure in velocity 
from the averages established by the observations, there were great 
differences in the barometer between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. 
The departures from the average-were usually in the lower currents or at 
the sides, a low barometer in the Gulf of Mexico lessening the flow. 

That the Gulf Stream is governed by absolute laws no one can doubt. 
After the first two years of work in the Straits of Florida, when it was 
thought that some of these laws were indicated, anchorages were made 
there with a previous prediction as to the strength of current to be ex- 
pected, and the hour of its maximum flow, and in every case the prediction 
was verified. 

Every two or three years the newspapers print stories of change 
of climate on the New Jersey coast, or Nantucket, and give as evidence 
not only high temperature but the fact that Gulf weed has been seen 
near the shore. The home of this marine plant is the Sargasso Sea, 
where it grows and develops on the surface. It is blown by the winds 
and thrown to leeward by the waves until some of it reaches the Gulf 



46 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Stream north of the Bahamas. Carried north by the stream to beyond 
Hatteras, a southerly wind carries it beyond its inshore boundaries 
toward the northern coast, and with the Gulf weed also comes the warm 
surface water. It is believed, however, that the Gulf Stream current 
itself remains on its course practically the same, subject to its daily, 
monthly, and yearly variations in velocity, but no material variation in 
direction. This great current is as nearly immutable as any of the 
forces of nature with which we are familiar at the present time. 

A story of one of the many experiences of the Blake in her deep 
anchorages may be interesting. Bad weather had driven her to a lee 
under Great Isaac on the Bahama Bank some miles north of the Bernini 
Islands. In the afternoon, when the weather was moderating, we saw a 
small sloop standing toward us and when she luffed up under our stern 
there was a hail asking : ' ' Can I come on board ? ' ' Many ships are driven 
on shore along this part of the group, and, by the custom of the land 
the first wrecker invited or permitted to come on board had the first 
right to salving the ship. Our friend came on deck, and looked up 
and down, then said: "Thank the Lord I am first. Why, I lost $5,000 
by not being first on board the Mary Jones when Bill Smith got ahead 
of me. Well, Cap, what's the matter," he said, "are you leaking or 
have you dropped your wheel ? " "No," I answered, "we have just come 
in here for a lee, because it was too rough to stay at anchor out in the 
stream." He replied: "What are you telling me — do you think I am 
a fool? Young man, how deep do you suppose it is out there?" "Well 
we were anchored in about 400 fathoms when this northeaster began," 
and it required evidence as to the methods used before he could be 
convinced that we actually had been doing what we claimed. 

Mr. Jones: Our next address will be "The United States Geological 
Survey and its Relation to the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey." 

The Coast and Geodetic Survey is possibly closer to the United States 
Geological Survey than to any other bureau of the Federal Government, 
with one exception (the Bureau of Lighthouses). These two organiza- 
tions have as their principal duties the mapping of the entire land and 
coastal water areas of the United States and Alaska. In carrying on 
this work the two bureaus have striven to avoid any duplication and to 
be of the greatest help to each other. There are, of course, many other 
important branches of the work of the Geological Survey which are 
absolutely necessary in the industrial and commercial development of 
the United States. As its name shows, one of its greatest fields of 
endeavor is that of geology. The results of its work in this field have 
made available to the Nation's industries the great mineral wealth of 
the country. 

I take pleasure in introducing Doctor George Otis Smith, Director of 
the United States Geological Survey. 



Centennial Celebration 47 

THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND ITS RELATION TO THE 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Doctor Smith : The relations of near relatives may be a delicate subject 
for public discussion. The two organizations of which I have been asked 
to speak this afternoon possess the same family name as well as certain 
family characteristics and in consequence are often mistaken one for the 
other. If one Survey buys a motor truck, the other gets the benefit of 
the advertising and the curious public remarks: "We don't see how the 
Geological Survey can afford it." Yet the relations of the two Surveys 
have been such for more than a third of a century and are such to-day 
that I welcome this opportunity for the younger to extend congratula- 
tions to the older organization. Were I to review in detail the common 
history of these two Surveys there are no chapters that I should better 
omit nor incidents that I might need to gloss over in order that my 
remarks should be in keeping with the spirit of this occasion. In short, 
the hearty congratulations that I bring are an expression of true apprecia- 
tion of what the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey has been to 
the United States Geological Survey. 

The two bureaus have much in common ; the field of endeavor for each 
is nation wide; they are scientific in spirit and civil in organization; 
both are primarily field services, and the product of most of the work of 
each reaches the public in the form of maps. The similarity in official 
name also indicates a certain overlapping of function, which under some 
conditions might cause duplication of work. The fact that at no point 
in the twilight zone of superimposed jurisdiction has there been any 
wasted effort is good evidence that both these branches of the Federal 
scientific service have kept in mind the public nature of their work. It 
is because I realize that in the interrelations of these two bureaus the 
Geological Survey has been more often the beneficiary that I desire on 
this occasion to emphasize the gratifying fact that the two Surveys have 
worked in the cause of American science on a coordinated rather than a 
competitive basis. 

In this connection I should mention the effort made 37 years ago to 
put on an economic and efficient basis the surveying work in the Western 
States. Under instructions by Congress the National Academy of Sci- 
ences considered all the work relating to scientific surveys and reported 
to Congress a plan prepared by a special committee, whose membership 
included the illustrious names of Marsh, Dana, Rogers, Newberry, Trow- 
bridge, Newcomb, and Agassiz. This report, which was adopted by the 
academy with only one dissenting vote, grouped all surveys, geodetic, 
topographic, land parceling, and economic, under two distinct heads — 
surveys of mensuration and surveys of geology. At that time five inde- 
pendent organizations in three different departments were carrying on 
surveys of mensuration, and the academy recommended that all such 



48 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

work be combined under the Coast and Geodetic Survey with the new 
name Coast and Interior Survey. For the investigation of the natural 
resources of the public domain and the classification of the public lands 
a new organization was proposed, the United States Geological Survey. 
The functions of these two Surveys and of a third coordinate bureau in 
the Interior Department, the Land Office, were carefully defined and 
their interrelations fully recognized and provided for in the plan presented 
to Congress. Viewed in the light of 37 years of experience, the National 
Academy plan would be indorsed by most of us as eminently practical, 
and I believe the report stands as a splendid example of public service 
rendered by America's leading scientists. The bill which embodied the 
entire plan, however, failed of passage in Congress, although the part 
relating to the organization of the new Geological Survey was carried as 
a rider on the sundry civil appropriation act of March 3, 1879. 

The newly organized United States Geological Survey began topo- 
graphic surveys of the type that the National Academy had believed 
could best be executed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the younger 
Survey has continued this kind of mensuration surveying until it has 
covered more than 40 per cent of the country and become the principal 
map-making bureau of the Government. In course of time, also, more 
or less legislative authority has been given for the control work, vertical 
and horizontal, needed for these topographic surveys, so that there has 
been evolved exactly the opportunity for duplication of work that the 
National Academy sought to prevent. The invitation to speak this after- 
noon on the subject of the relation of the United States Geological Survey 
to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey is a privilege that I 
value highly, because it gives me the opportunity to point out that the 
result that Congress failed to insure by legislation has been attained by 
voluntary scientific cooperation. 

In topographic mapping the activities of the older bureau stop at the 
coast, as its name suggests; its mensuration surveys elsewhere are purely 
geodetic and represent a refinement of method and an accuracy of result 
that is not necessary in the ordinary mapping of the country as a whole, 
although these engineering results are absolutely essential. Thus the 
earlier contribution of the older Survey to the needs of the younger was 
the furnishing of geographic positions with distances and azimuths; 
and in those days, before the typewriter was used or the photostat in- 
vented, those hundreds of pages of manuscript copies represented a 
large measure of cooperation. Later, the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
adopted the welcome policy of extending its geodetic control over areas 
where the Geological Survey had immediate need of such help. 

At the request of the Geological Survey the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
established astronomic positions in Oklahoma, Arizona, Montana, Texas, 
Florida, and Oregon, a service of great value in furnishing the control for 
the topographic surveys, and though they were a part of the general plan 



Centennial Celebration 49 

of the older organization some of these positions were established before 
they were needed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey itself. Similarly, even 
this last year the Coast and Geodetic Survey has, at the request of the 
Geological Survey, extended its scheme of triangulation northwestward 
from Idaho to cover an area where control was particularly required in 
the progress of the topographic mapping. 

In the earlier topographic surveys by the Geological Survey the eleva- 
tions were based upon railroad data, which were found altogether dis- 
cordant, and the extension of the precise-level lines by the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey provided the satisfactory vertical control that was imme- 
diately appreciated by our topographic engineers. Knowing the ready 
spirit of cooperation, we have from time to time made requests for help 
of this kind where it was most needed, and the record shows that every 
such request has met with prompt and willing consideration, and many 
times the plans of the Coast and Geodetic Survey have been so modified 
as to expedite the geodetic work in localities where it was most needed 
for our topographic work. 

Thus, on our request, the transcontinental line of precise leveling was 
diverted so as to include Ogden. Lines were run from San Diego to 
Ogden, from Las Vegas to Reno, and from Ogden to San Francisco, as 
well as eastward from Arizona, northward from Ogden to Butte, and by 
way of Denver to Cheyenne. In Texas also the routes for the precise-level 
lines were selected with full consideration of the needs of both Surveys, 
and so this policy of practical coordination and spirit of hearty coopera- 
tion continue to yield results that are thoroughly satisfactory. 

Members of the Geological Survey most familiar with these large con- 
tributions by the Coast and Geodetic Survey have estimated that the 
value of the geodetic work done by the older organization that would 
otherwise have necessarily been done by the Geological Survey has aggre- 
gated not less than a million dollars, and if the future engineering work 
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, as now planned, is carried to comple- 
tion another million dollars should be included in our total indebtedness 
to the older Survey. The point which I wish to emphasize is that by 
reason of a large degree of appreciation of the needs of the Geological 
Survey in its topographic mapping the geodetic work of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey has been so planned and executed that this by-product 
of its operations has been conserved to the fullest extent possible, and as 
chief beneficiary the United States Geological Survey is thoroughly 
grateful. 

The United States Geological Survey is proud of its pioneer work in 
aid of the development of the resources of Alaska, yet we are not forgetful 
of the fact that the real pioneer in Alaska was the United States Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, which started its work in Alaska 30 years earlier 
than our own Survey. The triangulation points and astronomic sta- 
tions established by the Coast and Geodetic Survey have been used to 
44282°— 16 4 



50 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

control the topographic work in Alaska, and in several instances the geo- 
detic work has been planned to meet specific requests of the Geological 
Survey. The Coast Survey charts have, of course, furnished the basis 
for the shore lines on the general maps of Alaska published by the Geo- 
logical Survey, and, indeed, without these shore-line surveys it would have 
been impossible to compile an accurate map of Alaska. 

It has been the custom of each of these Surveys to supply the other with 
photographic copies of field sheets of current work, which have been of spe- 
cial value in connection with maps about to be published. I am glad to 
record the fact that cooperation of this type has not been one-sided, but 
that the Geological Survey has furnished the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
with traverses of shore lines for incorporation in coast charts wherever 
the more exact surveys of the Coast and Geodetic Survey were lacking. 
Our topographic survey of the Bering River coal field, for instance, yielded 
data that were incorporated in the important Coast and Geodetic Survey 
chart of Controller Bay, which was published before the Geological Survey 
issued its topographic map of the larger area. In this way the public was 
served by receiving the information earlier than if -the Geological Survey 
had insisted upon first publishing its own results. 

The record of cooperation would be incomplete without reference to 
the transportation that has been furnished to Geological Survey parties. 
In 1900, for instance, six parties from the Geological Survey were taken to 
Nome and return on the Coast and Geodetic Survey steamers Pathfinder 
and Patterson. The testimony of the members of the Alaskan division of 
the Geological Survey is that the cooperation in Alaska has been as hearty 
and close as if the Coast and Geodetic Survey men and the Geological 
Survey men belonged to the same bureau. 

In this connection, too, should be mentioned the earlier geologic obser- 
vations made in Alaska by members of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
and chief among these scientist pioneers in Alaska is our own Doctor Dall, 
the credit for whose half century of scientific work under Government 
auspices is shared by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Geological 
Survey. In connection with its engineering work, also, the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey has made important scientific contributions that are dis- 
tinctly geologic in character, and as geologists we are almost inclined to 
lay claim to Hayford's work on isostasy and Bowie's gravity deter- 
minations. 

Every geologist who works in that attractive borderland where both 
the products of geologic processes and the processes themselves can be 
studied side by side — our continental shore line — has made large use of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey charts, and as competent witnesses we gladly 
testify to the accuracy of these charts and we compliment their makers- 
Such geologic investigations as the study of changing shore lines, the his- 
tory of the submerged margins of the continent, and the origin of sedi- 
ments are being given attention by the Geological Survey, and all these 



Centennial Celebration 51 

studies must be based upon the surveys and resurveys made by the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey. 

This brief review of the relations existing between these two bureaus 
may serve a larger purpose than the sincere expression of congratulations 
to the Coast and Geodetic Survey on this centennial occasion. For 
nearly four decades these two Surveys have been working side by side from 
Florida to Alaska without the specific statutory separation of functions 
deemed advisable by the National Academy and therefore with full oppor- 
tunity to overlap their fields of operation, to duplicate work, and thus to 
waste public money. The fact that there has resulted economical 
coordination rather than wasteful competition stands to the credit of 
those in administrative control of the two bureaus, especially the super- 
intendents and directors in the earlier years of this period of successful 
cooperation. Naturally, too, the spirit of hearty cooperation is equally 
shown between the scientific assistants of the two sendees. 

In these days, when as American citizens we have so deep concern in 
the question of public regulation of private business — a nation-wide 
concern arising from a broadening appreciation of society's interest in 
the individual — it may be opportune for some of us as public officials 
to pause and consider the question of regulation of public business. Do 
we apply the same rules to our conduct of the business of these Federal 
bureaus that we advocate for the control of corporations? Some of us 
as scientists may feel that the comparison of a scientific bureau with an 
industrial corporation is forced if not absurd. Yet I trust that the two 
are alike in being not only productive but productive without undue 
waste. The National Academy report of 1878, to which I have referred, 
contains a significant phrase; in presenting to Congress the ideal for a 
scientific bureau as they saw it these scientists described the ideal plan 
as one that would yield the "best results at the least possible cost." 
Those few words express a practical administrative policy equally good 
for big business and pure science. And it is as illogical for a scientific 
bureau as for a munitions plant to shy at a cost-keeping system. 

Here at the Federal Capital we have some two score scientific bureaus 
distributed through several executive departments. There exists no 
general plan of division of duties among these different agencies for public 
sen-ice, but as a fundamental policy we have pinned our faith to a sort 
of declaration of independence that all scientific bureaus were created 
free and equal. My acquaintance with bureau chiefs and their intimate 
advisers perhaps warrants me in describing them as possessing at least 
average ambitions, with the inevitable result that we have seen some 
fields of scientific investigation occupied by two or more bureaus, other 
and less attractive fields shunned, and even other fields claimed by those 
bureaus not best qualified to make the largest use of the opportunity for 
creative work. Among ourselves, we know of so many illustrations that 
no examples need be cited ; each of us no doubt feels sure that we can at 



52 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

least specify the sins of other bureaus. This is the competitive system 
almost at its worst, because it is countenanced by men of scientific 
training and high ideals of public service. Fortunately, however, the 
two bureaus of which I have particularly spoken, as well as some others, 
furnish proof that there can be coordinated effort in Federal scientific 
work. 

I have here referred to the business world because I believe we must 
apply some of the same rules to our scientific work. However slight may 
be the statutory limitations imposed by Congress upon these scientific 
bureaus, we can not escape the requirements of economic law, which is 
never a dead letter, although too often unread. If in the world of private 
business the competitive system sometimes breaks down and fails to 
protect the public, so in our narrower circle of public business there may 
be a similar failure of competition to produce the best results. The ques- 
tion is always fair and is sometimes pertinent: "How far should these 
Government scientific bureaus go in seeking to enlarge their fields of 
usefulness?" Does this competitive spirit by its appeal to individual 
ambitions make for better public service? To what extent is it good 
public policy to have the public servants on the qui vive for new oppor- 
tunities to serve, new worlds to discover, new appropriations to get? 
Service and discovery are the proper ideals of the individual investigator, 
but should even ideals justify trespass and disregard of others? 

First of all, we must agree that however great its advantage as a method 
of stimulating progress, competition should always be fair. If we are to 
apply the principles of the Sherman Act and the Clayton law to public 
business, unfair methods must be ruled out as illegal. I do not believe 
my comparison is a forced one. You can read decrees of the Federal 
courts that prohibit corporations from doing some things that are some- 
what similar to practices of which we ourselves have been guilty. In 
one case, among other items, the defendant corporation was enjoined 
from making false representations concerning competitors and from 
hiring away employees of competitors — simply a twentieth century echo 
of the ninth and tenth commandments of the Mosaic law, especially the 
edict against coveting "thy neighbor's manservant." In the public 
service proper coordination of work often makes transfers from one 
bureau to another desirable, and so as a means of increasing efficiency 
such transfers are and should be welcomed, but efficiency from the larger 
view is attained only when the interests of both bureaus are considered, 
in which event the individual also profits by his larger opportunity. 
With science alive and expanding in so many directions, subdivision and 
redistribution of- functions makes certain interbureau transfers of special- 
ists absolutely necessary. 

Another unfair practice, not countenanced by the courts in their 
regulation of private business, is tricky advertising as a method of meeting 
real competition. Honest advertising must be founded on truth, and 



Centennial Celebration 53 

even scientific bureaus may need sometimes to apply this acid test to the 
statements they give out to the public. Scientific investigations whose 
purpose is to increase human knowledge do not find their best expression 
in publicity whose principal object is to impress the appropriation com- 
mittee. Such advertising may have its foundation in truth and yet may 
possess a superstructure so large and top-heavy as to violate all engineer- 
ing formulas. 

Unrestrained competition in the public sen-ice, then, presents some 
dangers no less real than those incident to unregulated competition in 
private business. The question must come home to every bureau chief 
and to his intimate advisers : " To what extent is a competitive struggle 
for new territorv warranted, even when only fair methods are used in 
this endeavor for bureaucratic expansion?" I am aware that we may 
invoke "the public demand" and put forward other equally plausible 
reasons, but even if we sometimes fool Congress and on rare occasions 
fool each other, we never fool ourselves. Of course the individual 
investigator, self-centered with enthusiasm in his discovery of a new line 
of research, may be wholly ignorant of the fact that among the two 
thousand or so fellow scientists here in Washington some one in another 
department has already preempted that subject and possibly carried 
the work well on to completion; but however unconscious the scientific 
worker in one bureau may be of the obvious relation of that problem to 
the work of some other bureau, only rarely, indeed, can his own bureau 
chief plead any such ignorance or innocence. May I express my indi- 
vidual conviction that the bureau chief who makes strategic moves 
in this contest for enlargement of field of work is just as conscious 
whether he is playing the game fairly as the "captain of industrv " whom 
we have thought ought to be investigated by the Department of Justice? 

Even at its best, however, this competitive system is wasteful. The 
public ha's too often found that competition as the safety valve of business 
costs too much in steam. If in the branch of public business in which 
we are engaged the ideal is to render the best service at the lowest cost, 
must there not be regulation, and regulation which recognizes that there 
are what we may term "natural monopolies" in the Government scien- 
tific service? The monopolistic idea must here yield the same real 
savings to society that have come with the recent growth of public- 
utility monopolies. The product of our scientific bureaus is not a staple 
commodity but a special service to the public, and under governmental 
auspices this service is offered without price, yet that does not mean 
that we are any less vitally interested in costs. If monopoly will enable 
these scientific bureaus to render the best service at the lowest cost, the 
competitive system in scientific work should go to the scrap heap as out 
of date. 

The adoption of the monopoly system, however, involves here, as in 
the field of public utilities, the correlative idea of adequate regulation in 



54 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

the public interest. And here is where we may be in danger of losing our 
way, for the question of course obtrudes itself: "Who is the guide; who 
is to define the field of work to be monopolized by this or that bureau?" 
My own belief is that Congress can not be expected to enforce even its 
own wishes in the matter. Some years ago the chairman of a congres- 
sional committee that had made a most thorough investigation of one 
of the departments, himself a trial lawyer of large experience, admitted 
to me that the investigation had been largely in vain; in his own words, 
"I know the department is full of duplication, but it would take a 
trained scientist to put his finger on it all." Nor can the Cabinet officer 
be expected in a few years to discover all the overlaps in his own depart- 
ment, much less to learn the logical and proper coordination of the sci- 
entific work in several departments. Thus, the responsibility in large 
measure falls back upon the bureaus themselves; they must provide that 
careful coordination which precludes wasteful competition and promotes 
helpful cooperation. To return for a moment to my text, I do not know 
that the successful coordination of the work of our two Surveys has been 
due in any large degree to the influence of Congress, although my experi- 
ence is that appropriation committees do watch these details; nor have 
I ever known any Secretary of the Interior or of the Treasury or of Com- 
merce to define this wise policy ; the happy result must be credited rather 
to a small group of administrative chiefs in each of these two scientific 
bureaus. 

The obligation for the proper conduct of the scientific work of the 
Government, therefore, can not be lifted from the shoulders of the 
bureau chiefs and their immediate associates in the work of administra- 
tion. Moreover, this responsibility is a double one; we should feel not 
only the duty as public servants to avoid wasteful use of the public money, 
but also the obligation as scientists to conserve scientific effort by pre- 
venting duplication in research and in publication. Aside from the 
absurdity that lies in the spectacle of bureau chiefs trying to impress 
congressional committees, do we not by our acts suggest a lack of faith 
in science itself? We talk impressively of the day of highly specialized 
science and then go out and poach on what is properly the domain of 
others. Since the days of Aristotle students of politics have recognized 
as a weakness in democracies the habit of not appreciating the value of 
trained specialists. Within a few weeks the London Financial News 
remarked editorially upon the national neglect of science to which is 
now attributed the bulk of the British failures under the test of war. 
But as self -labeled scientists are we not ourselves similarly lacking in 
our appreciation of the value of science and of scientific organization in 
so far as we fail to recognize that by reason of its experience and its 
personnel some other bureau, even in another department, can better 
handle a certain subject than our own bureau? 



Centennial Celebration 55 

Especially when a new idea is before the public are we apt to be tem- 
porarily blinded by its popularity and thus lose sight of the eternal fitness 
of things. I can best illustrate this by mention of a current topic. The 
fixation of nitrogen is a matter of national importance; plainly the 
military departments are most concerned by reason of their need of nitric 
acid for munitions, yet as against any claims of the War and Navy 
Departments must be set the fact that nitrogen is one of the essential 
elements in fertilizers, and its production is therefore of vital concern to 
the Department of Agriculture ; however, the mineral deposits necessary 
to the fixation process are to a large extent under the jurisdiction of the 
Department of the Interior, not to mention some of the most available 
power sites; nor must I overlook the fact that this subject was first 
investigated and reported upon by a bureau in the Department of Com- 
merce. So the competitive contest is on, but the obviously most reason- 
able consideration is still in the background. What department or 
bureau, if any, has already on its rolls the force of hydraulic and con- 
struction engineers ready to begin the preliminary studies and surveys 
and the organization already adapted to push the construction of the 
plant, should Congress authorize this innovation in governmental activity ? 
As evidence of my good faith in mentioning this illustration, let me add 
that an investigative bureau like the Geological Survey is not organized 
on a plan at all adapted to the construction and operation of an industrial 
plant ; and all that I may claim for our bureau in this connection is that 
we sometimes recognize the obvious. 

Those of us who have been responsible for the work of securing the needed 
appropriations are at times likely to have our judgment warped by what 
we think are the exigencies of the case. A member of a scientific bureau 
was once so concerned for the success of his bureau that he even recom- 
mended its transfer to another department so as to get under the wing of 
a more generous appropriation committee. The logic of the situation 
does not always appeal to us, and we are willing for the moment to sell 
our birthright for a larger appropriation. The obvious fact in this 
matter of the interrelations of the scientific bureaus of the Government 
is that if the bureau chiefs do not always exhibit an appreciation of the 
proprieties in scientific investigation nor seem to possess much idea of 
perspective in the alignment of boundaries, can even the most experienced 
legislators be expected to make the best distribution of scientific work? 

The possession by any bureau of even a skeleton organization of effi- 
cient specialists in a certain field would seem to be the practically unan- 
swerable argument for entrusting to that bureau any new and enlarged 
work in that field whenever Congress deems larger appropriations advisa- 
ble. That is the type of practical logic that is recognized in private 
business, for under public regulation of natural monopoly the public- 
utility company that first enters the local field is recognized and even 



56 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

protected by the public-service commission, as long as the service ren- 
dered is at all adequate. In the business world the day of preferment of 
special applicants in the granting of municipal franchises has passed, 
and in our Government business there is no better reason for granting 
special privileges to overzealous bureau chiefs. I sometimes think that 
the bureau chief comes nearer being safe and sane in his public acts and 
utterances in the intervals between sessions of Congress. 

In this informal comparison of the actual and the ideal in the adminis- 
tration of the scientific bureaus of the Government I have had ever in 
mind the existence of a real basis for optimism in the splendid record of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Geological Survey in absolutely 
coordinating their endeavors in the public service. And I desire simply 
to add that this practical cooperation has been so easily accomplished 
that it is only as we review these several decades of joint work and esti- 
mate the value of the reciprocal services rendered that we realize how 
ideal have been the relations between the two Surveys. 



EVENING SESSION, APRIL 5, 1916 

Mr. Jones: Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to see so many of 
you here this evening. I hope that most of you were fortunate enough 
to have been present this afternoon. For the benefit of those who were 
not, I wish to say that the addresses delivered were most interesting and 
enlightening, and they served to show what a great part the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey has taken in the development of the 
scientific and practical interests of the Federal Government; and also 
the fact that the scientific branches of our Government are very closely 
affiliated. 

We shall continue our exercises to-night by going over the history 
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in its other various phases during 
the past century. The first address we shall hear is " The United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey's Part in the Development of Com- 
merce." We are fortunate in having with us one who has studied this 
question for many years, and through whose interest the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey has benefited materially. Our work along the coastal 
waters has been helped by him, and thus the protection of human 
life and commerce has been made surer. I take pleasure in introducing 
to you the Honorable J. Hampton Moore, Member of the House of 
Representatives. 

THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY'S PART IN THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF COMMERCE 

Representative Moore: Mr. Superintendent, ladies, and gentlemen, if 
I had my way I would discard these notes and talk to you direct. I am 
interested in chart making because I have had a great deal to do with 
charts since the beginning of my congressional career. My constituents 
have found them very useful and if they were not accurate their imper- 
fections would be very promptly brought to my notice. Which reminds 
me of a Delaware River story, wherein a marine reporter and the captain 
of a three-masted schooner, laden with lumber and destined for Phila- 
delphia, were the principal figures. The reporter had boarded the 
schooner down the river, but found the captain swearing. " Where do 
you hail from and what is your cargo?" said the reporter. "None of 
your business," swore the captain. "This is the blankety blankedest 
river on the face of the earth." "What is the trouble with the river?" 
queried the reporter. " Channel changing all the way up," yelled the 
captain. "Let me look at your chart," said the reporter. "See for 

57 



58 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

yourself," said the captain. "I do," said the reporter; "this is the 
chart of the Chesapeake Bay." 

In this instance you will observe the fault was with the navigator 
and not with the chart. I know it is not customary for Members of 
the House — and some of them are in the audience to-night — to worry 
about speeches, and I would not think of putting mine in writing if it 
were not for the scrutinizing oversight of your superintendent and the 
expert technical oratory of my friend, General Black, Chief of the United 
States Army Engineers, and of my other friends, Commissioner Putnam, 
of the Bureau of Lighthouses, and Mr. Littlehales, Chief of the Hydro- 
graphic Office, who grace this platform. It is my respect for them and 
their expert knowledge which induces me to avoid the risk of extempo- 
raneous speeching. [Reading :] 

SUBSTANTIAL PREPAREDNESS. 

Some day this great country of ours, which talks much of preparedness 
and does little to prepare, will wake up to the necessity of giving sub- 
stantial support to the bases of our domestic progress in order that they 
may be better able to prepare us to maintain ourselves in our foreign 
relations. The country will some day realize that if we are to spend 
money for preparedness we must encourage the media through which the 
revenue is raised. We can not forever tax the people for preparedness 
or for any other governmental purpose without giving the people an op- 
portunity to earn what they have to pay. The importance of a helpful gov- 
ernmental interest in the means of production by which the people are 
supported is, therefore, apparent. A prosperous and patriotic people 
is the basis upon which all preparedness must rest. Only in recent years 
have we begun to realize the real value of governmental encouragement 
in the development of our domestic opportunities. From the begin- 
ning of the Government we have provided for the Army and the Navy, 
for diplomatic relations with foreign nations, and for the administration 
of law within our own borders, but not until the days of Abraham Lincoln 
did we give any direct Federal consideration to the development of 
agriculture, which, with commerce and manufactures, constitute the 
wealth-creating and tax-bearing agencies of the Government. It was 
not until 1903 that commerce and the industries which enter into it 
were given recognition at the Cabinet table of the Nation. 

And yet our forefathers had great foresight as to the import of our 
commercial development. They catered to it in the Constitution of the 
United States when they delegated to Congress the power "to provide 
for the common defense and general welfare of the United States"; 
"to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
States, and with the Indian tribes," and also "to establish post roads," 
which in the days anterior to the railroads were carriers of the mails 
as well of commerce by land and water. The f ramers of the Constitution 



Centennial Celebration 59 

dealt in their time with a population approximating 4,000,000 people, 
but they were shrewd enough to perceive that the country would expand, 
and that commerce would increase, and in due course would come 
under the regulation of law. At the time the} r announced the Constitu- 
tion in September, 1787, however, an extensive international commerce 
had already been developed. It was carried in American ships, which 
did profitable business, though at great risk, in all the seas of the world. 
It was the active operation of these ships and the importance of American 
interchange with other nations that induced Thomas Jefferson to suggest 
the establishment of a Coast Survey to chart our coast and otherwise 
provide for the encouragement and safety of American shipping. Con- 
gress was a laggard in those days, even more than it is accused of being 
now, and it was not until 1816, after the close of the War of 181 2, that 
field operations were undertaken by this new arm of the Government 
service. We are celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of this event 
to-night, and I am not exceeding the bounds of truth or propriety when 
I venture the assertion that the celebration is timely and justifiable, 
since so little is known by our more than 100,000,000 population of the 
direct benefits which this sendee is constantly rendering to life and trade. 
Organized originally as a bureau of the Treasury Department, con- 
tinuing under the rigorous methods of the Army and Navy, and now under 
the purely civil jurisdiction of the newly created Department of Com- 
merce, the Coast and Geodetic Survey pursues its prosaic work of dis- 
covering new water routes, charting new regions, and recharting old ones, 
in a manner that invokes our highest admiration. Loss of vessels along 
the Atlantic seaboard and on our inland waters was not infrequent when 
the Survey was organized 100 years ago, but the draft of vessels and the 
depth of channels were far different then from what they are to-day. In 
the beginning it was sufficient to make surveys and point out the marine 
menaces to vessels of so shallow a draft as 12 feet; to-day it is necessary 
to extend the Survey over inland waters and across tempestuous seas 
upon which vessels drawing as much as 38 feet must have leeway for 
maneuvers. It is not difficult, therefore, for those who entertain a right 
appreciation of faithful Federal service to understand the extent of the 
hardships and privations that must be endured by the men who in fair 
weather or in foul, in daylight or in darkness, must mark the channels 
and point out the impediments to navigation in our rivers and harbors 
and upon the high seas. Like the Lighthouse Sendee, or the Coast 
Guard, which we formerly knew as the Revenue-Cutter and Life-Saving 
Sen-ices, the Coast and Geodetic Survey is constantly on duty at the 
frontier, where it is essential to presen'e and safeguard the life and 
property of our people. I have been assigned to speak upon "The 
United States Coast and Geodetic Sun T ey's Part in the Development of 
Commerce." I can not respond more happily than to say that the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey is an arm of the Federal sen-ice that is indispensable 



60 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

both to the Government and to commerce. It is made up of as faithful 
and devoted a body of public servants as may be found anywhere under 
the Stars and Stripes. 

In the midst of our national prosperity and more particularly since 
we have come to discuss the preparedness of this Nation to maintain its 
honor in peace or at war, I have wondered whether the Government 
and the people who support it have fully appreciated the part which 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey has played in our commercial develop- 
ment. I have wondered whether the business man who has been a great 
beneficiary of this service has thoroughly understood the work and the 
needs of this important bureau. We know how easy it is to criticize the 
work of public servants and how unusual it is to properly and justly 
appraise their services, but here we have a bureau unmixed with political 
conditions, sharing the perils which beset the Army and Navy but never 
aspiring to the spotlight. Even Congress, I sometimes think, unduly 
stints itself in its appreciation of this important branch of the public 
service. When we go for appropriations which lay hard upon the pro- 
gram of distribution we do not always see these silent sea plotters sound- 
ing with the lead off the rocky coast of Maine, or hauling the wire drag 
in the icy waters of Alaska. Their persistence and even their heroism 
pales into insignificance when it comes to the adjustment of the dollars 
and cents. It is one of the misfortunes of the men whose hearts and 
hopes are wrapped up in achievement that the headlines are reserved 
for others; yet the proofs of their usefulness are so convincing as to 
bring to them at least the consciousness of duty well performed. As 
to these services I hope to group some facts and figures that may be of 
interest. 

Vast as has been our national growth, and important as it is that 
our water routes shall be made safe for transportation, it is regrettable 
that the facilities of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, both as to men and 
means, have not been increased in proportion to the work that is to be 
done. There is a strange misunderstanding in the public mind as to 
the need of appropriations for rivers and harbors. It is said that appro- 
priations once made for improvements, or for maintenance, should be 
sufficient, and an outcry is raised when Congress is asked to provide 
for the maintenance of a channel that was dredged last year, as if a 
channel once dredged would forever maintain itself. It is unfortunate 
that this sort of reasoning should sometimes be indulged with respect 
to the Coast and Geodetic Survey, as if a chart of a sandy shore made 
a decade ago would be safe and serviceable for the mariner of to-day. 
With the old type sailing vessel giving way to the steamer and dread- 
naught, with the modern barge taking the place of the antiquated 
canal boat, how absurd is the. thought that the ancient condition will 
suffice "for the modern or that nature will lay supine at the foot of man. 
There is no body of men more capable of dealing with the forces of 



Centennial Celebration 61 

nature than the United States Army engineers, and yet I doubt that 
any of them, efficient and capable as they are, would undertake to 
guarantee that the forces of nature in 1920 will not sweep down the 
most expensive but unsupported jetties of 191 6. It is inevitable that 
new shoals will form and that new obstructions to navigation will be 
discovered, as it is inevitable that artificial channels in tidal streams 
will not forever maintain themselves. 

What the Coast and Geodetic Survey undertakes to do for commerce 
is to keep commerce informed as to hydrographic conditions. It sur- 
veys the waters, it marks upon a chart the underlying conditions, it 
points the mariner to the lanes of travel that are safe, it warns him so 
far as it is able to do of the rocks and the shoals that may bring him 
to grief. When I speak of a lack of public appreciation of the invaluable 
sen-ice thus performed, I rely upon the facts as they are revealed by 
study of our geographical conditions. Who stops to think of the extent 
of the coast line of the United States? Coupled with that of Alaska, 
it exceeds 10,000 miles. All this is supposed to be traversed by the 
men who explore our waters for the sake of commerce. Think of the 
rocks and the shoals that abound in so extended an area, reaching 
miles out from the coast into the sea, and we have the first glimpse of 
the magnitude of the work. Add to this 10,000 miles of coast line the 
actual shore line, including all the islands, bays, sounds, and rivers in 
the littoral or tidal belt, and we bring into the jurisdiction of the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey for investigation and exploration, for sounding by 
lead and dragging by wire, no less than 91,000 miles. But the work of 
the bureau does not stop with its oversight of the shore lines of conti- 
nental United States and Alaska. It embraces the shore lines of Porto 
Rico, Guam, Tutuila, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Philippine Islands, 
whose general shore line exceeds 6,300 miles and whose detailed coast 
line is in excess of 13,000 miles. Since the commerce of the United 
States, greater within the United States than outside of it, penetrates 
to every part of this country, to all our islands and possessions and to 
every nation of the world, it is easy to understand how tremendously 
important it is that our coast charts should be accurate and up to date. 

In discussing the relation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to that 
commerce which avails itself of transportation by water, the element of 
human life is not to be overlooked. It is bad enough that valuable 
property in ships and cargo shall go to destruction upon uncharted 
rocks, but it is always deplorable that human life should thus be lost, 
and yet each great storm on any of our coasts brings its chapter of 
accidents. The wreck of the revenue cutter Tahoma on an uncharted 
reef in Alaskan waters is easily recalled. The captain and men drifted 
about in open boats and were finally rescued, but the valuable prop- 
erty of the Government was lost. The crash of the Titanic against a 
berg in the waters of the Atlantic and the loss of hundreds of lives is 



62 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

still fresh in the minds of the reading public. These and hundreds of 
other tragedies of the sea contribute to the annual toll which is paid 
for a lack of sufficient information as to hidden dangers. It is possible 
that many of these accidents would have occurred in spite of any survey, 
and yet it can not be denied that the incompleteness of the survey of 
the American coast is responsible for many of them. I shall give some 
facts with respect to the work that is yet to be done, especially as it 
pertains to some of the more frequented watercourses along the Atlantic 
coast, but before doing so I wish to refer, in the interest of commerce, 
and as evidencing the safety of navigation by reason of such service as 
we now have, to figures showing the number of passengers carried on the 
vessels of the United States which are obliged to report to the Supervis- 
ing Inspector General of the Steamboat-Inspection Service. I wish all 
those who give little attention to the life-saving functions of the Gov- 
ernment and who are sometimes lead into violent criticisms of public 
service through headlines describing the horrors of exceptional accidents 
might peruse these figures. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 191 5,. 
the number of passengers carried on steam vessels obliged to report 
to the Steamboat-Inspection Service, and these were not all the water- 
borne passengers by any means, was 307,348,008. Dividing this 
number by 107, the total number of passengers lost, it is shown that 
only one passenger was lost for 2,872,411 passengers carried. The total 
number of lives lost from all causes, including passengers and crew, 
was 368. 

Wherever there is commerce human life may also be expected to abide. 
It is not unfair, therefore, in discussing the relation of commerce to the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey to introduce this human-life feature. But if 
we were to ignore it altogether, the commerce side of the question is 
formidable enough. We can even afford to eliminate the Government's 
own interest, including naval vessels and the fleets of the various depart- 
ments, including that of the Army, which, although it is not generally 
known, includes about 2,500 vessels. All these have to do with the 
work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, for it would be a foolish captain, 
indeed, who ventured upon any of the seas, or upon any of our navigable 
inland waters, for that matter, without a chart. But my purpose now 
is to introduce the commercial statistics so far as I have been able to 
assemble them as they relate to water-borne transportation. I am 
unable to give the figures with respect to our coastwise trade, as for some 
unaccountable reason Congress has never made any appropriation to 
enable us to obtain statistics as to the business done along the Atlantic 
seaboard. I presume the same condition prevails with respect to trade 
on our other coasts. The Secretary of Commerce has sought to obtain 
appropriations for this purpose, but they have not been granted to him. 
It is a fair presumption, however, that our coastwise trade in tonnage 
and value is not far below that of our foreign trade. However, this 



Centennial Celebration 



63 



is but a guess. We have haphazard statistics brought up through com- 
mercial bodies which are not wholly reliable. We can tell something 
about our losses, however, which though they constitute a small percent- 
age of the entire commerce of the coast are an indication of its magnitude. 
A voluntary board of experts a few years ago reported to the Atlantic 
Deeper Waterways Association that in 10 years from 1900 to 1909, 
inclusive, there had been no less than 5,700 disasters to shipping along 
the Atlantic seaboard, involving the loss of 2,200 lives and the destruction 
of more than $40,000,000 worth of property. If these figures may be 
relied upon, and they were taken principally from the life-saving statistics, 
it is to be inferred that the volume of trade along the Atlantic seaboard 
for which we have no official statistics is enormous. The Coast and 
Geodetic Survey is to be given credit for the safe conduct of a very large 
proportion of that commerce. 

We are more fortunate with regard to statistics in our foreign trade, 
all of which, of course, passes from or returns to the United States through 
charted waterways. A perusal of these figures is illuminating. They 
throw much light upon mooted questions with respect to tonnage and 
values in geographical divisions of the United States, but they serve to 
emphasize the value of the service to commerce of the governmental 
agency which we have been extolling. I intend to present as a part of 
this address an official statement by the Department of Commerce of the 
number and net tonnage of sailing and steam vessels entered and cleared 
in the foreign trade of the United States during the fiscal year ended 
June 30, 1 91 4, but for convenience shall summarize the totals. Our 
greatest foreign trade, tonnage, and values considered, is along the 
Atlantic seaboard, but including the Pacific, the Gulf, and the Great 
Lakes, the number of vessels coming and going during the year referred 
to was 80,667. Their net tonnage aggregated 106,571,986, and the 
total value of their cargoes was $3,785,468,512. The detailed statement 
is as follows : 

Number and Net Tonnage of Sailing and Steam Vessels Entered and Cleared in 
the Foreign Trade of the United States during the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1914 

[By geographic divisions] 





Entered. 


Cleared. 


Total entered and 
cleared. 




Vessels. 


Net tons. 


Vessels. 


Net tons. 


Vessels. 


Net tons. 




10,489 
5,319 
4,697 

20,512 


26,401,314 
6,042,347 
7, 608, 628 

13, 336, 288 


10, 084 
5,236 
4,986 

19,344 


25,491,836 
5, 798, 238 
8, 453, 138 

13, 440, 197 


20, 573 
10, 555 
9,683 
39,856 


51,893.150 




11,840,585 




16,061,766 




26, 776, 485 








41,017 


53,388,577 


39,650 


53, 183, 409 


80, 667 


106,571,986 







6 4 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 



Total Values of Imports and Exports into and from the United States during the Fiscal 
Year ended June 30, 1914 

[By mode of transportation and geographic divisions] 



Geographic divisions. 


Imports. 


Exports. 


Total imports 
and exports. 


Water borne : 


$1,360,519,398 
130, 767, 796 
120, 983, 430 
104,996,047 
20, 441, 982 


$1,299,062,457 

125,991,894 

570, 139, 028 

52, 565, 775 

705 


$2, 659, 581, 855 
256, 759, 690 








157,561,822 
20, 442, 687 








1, 737, 708, 653 
156,217,004 


2,047,759,859 
316,819,289 


3,785,468,512 
473, 036, 293 








1,893,925,657 


2,364,579,148 


4, 258, 504, 805 





Note. — The above tables cover only the commerce of the United States with foreign countries. No data 
are available for the domestic coastwise commerce. 

These figures relating to foreign and domestic commerce and to the 
life-saving features of our aids to navigation speak eloquently for them- 
selves. It is to be regretted, however, that they do not speak loud 
enough to be heard by those beneficiaries in commerce whose interest in 
a continuance of the service might assist in procuring for it that congres- 
sional recognition which it deserves. The men of commerce, if they would 
only stop long enough to consider the needs of the sendee, could speak 
more eloquently upon this subject than the tireless workers who heave 
the lead and draw the wire drags. 

In the presence of scientists and explorers, professors of universities, and 
picked men of the Army and Navy, I have no desire to attempt a discus- 
sion of the technical phases of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's service. 
I am fairly familiar with them, however, for all practical purposes, and 
that I take it is about equal to the average information possessed by the 
millions of passengers who sail upon the steamboats, and the thousands of 
merchants and traders who busy themselves with the commerce that seeks 
the markets of the world. I know what it means for a vessel to run upon 
the sands. I have not been upon one that struck a rock, but I can under- 
stand that the sensation would not be an altogether pleasant one. If I 
were the captain of a merchant vessel, I would not desire to face the owners 
if the ship intrusted to my care had run upon a bar that was not marked in 
antiquated charts. If I were captain of a naval vessel under like circum- 
stances, I would expect to be court-martialed. I think all of us, scientists 
or laymen, understand the significance of bringing a ship to grief. It is 
not beyond the range of possibility, however, that a new captain with an 
old chart, or a smart captain without any chart at all, may find that the 
shifting sands have made impassable the course he ran when he made his 
former voyage. It is not improbable that venturing into new territory 



Centennial Celebration 65 

he may run upon the point of a pinnacle rock which he did not know was 
there. All these things have actually occurred to captains of merchant 
vessels, and even to officers of the highest skill in the Navy. It is because 
these things have happened and because they are bound to happen so 
long as the winds blow and the tides ebb and flow that the work of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey must be supported and extended. We can 
not adequately survey a coast line of 10,000 miles with men and equip- 
ment for 5,000 miles. We can not increase the area over which the force 
must operate without increasing the force. We can not successfully 
survey the Philippine Islands and our other island possessions and con- 
tinue effectively the work along the shore lines of continental United 
States without neglecting a part of the work in one place or the other, 
and yet it is evident so long as nature continues to roll the ocean's waves 
against the sandy shores and the rock-bound coasts of this country a 
scrutiny upon the changes wrought by nature must be made as constantly 
as nature itself performs. Let me illustrate by comparing the work that 
is now going on in Alaska with the work along the lower regions of the 
Mississippi River. The Coast and Geodetic Survey has recently made a 
relocation of the Kuskokwim River, which empties into the Bering Sea. 
Commerce is picking its way along that river into the slowly developing 
Alaskan territory, but it required men and vessels to do this work, and 
they had to be drawn from other sections of the country. The Kusko- 
kwim River, wonderful stream that it is, is only an insignificant part of the 
work that is waiting the surveyors in Alaskan waters. The pinnacle rock 
abounds in this territory and left uncharted threatens the vessels which 
attempt to invade it, but the surveyors have only begun their work in 
Alaska; meanwhile, there is need for additional surveying at the Gulf 
approaches to the Mississippi. The commerce in that vicinity warrants a 
careful and accurate survey, and yet we are informed that by virtue of 
nature's constant changes along our coast line the original depth of 10 
fathoms of water off Southeast Pass of the Mississippi River have shoaled 
up to a few feet. When the commercial public grows tired of denouncing 
pork-barrel appropriations for rivers and harbors, it may find food for 
serious thought in the proposition that commerce is more interested in 
the maintenance of channels than are the overworked engineers of the 
United States Army, who stand a good deal of unwarranted abuse for 
following the instructions of Congress to keep the channels of commerce 
in good order. 

If in this closing chapter I am accused of being prejudiced in favor of 
the Atlantic seaboard, let it be recalled that the statistics show that the 
greatest commerce, foreign and domestic, traverses that coast. I am 
interested in the safety of life and commerce upon all our coasts, but by 
reason of familiarity with the Atlantic coast I may be pardoned for 
calling attention to a few of our needs. Suppose some day, as many 
experts think probable, the Caribbean Sea should become the base of a 
44282°— 16 5 



66 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

great naval warfare. Florida undoubtedly would be something of a 
center of American activities. Her inland waterways, so far as they 
are fit, would be serviceable for supply and munition ships, and for small 
vessels of the Navy. We can not count too much on these waterways, 
however, for they have not been improved as they might have been. 
But what layman ever knew, or knows now, that the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey does not think its work complete on all sides of the Florida coast 
until it has done 72,000 square miles of hydrographic surveying. Our 
needs by way of protection against reefs and shoals around the Florida 
coast are far more extensive than they are in the Alaskan waters, and 
yet in Alaska but 8 per cent of the navigable waters have been surveyed 
to the satisfaction of the Bureau. The dangers of Cape Hatteras are 
known to every American, and the currents that abound in that vicinity 
demand the frequent inspection and oversight of the chart makers. 
Just above Hatteras along the North Carolina coast the shore line is 
constantly changing, as is well known to mariners. Inlets close and 
open according to the whims of nature. It is an interesting historical 
fact that no living man is now able to locate the inlet through which 
passed the Sir Walter Raleigh expedition, which made the first English 
settlement on Roanoke Island. That the vessels of Amidas and Barlow 
entered Croatan Sound is a well-established fact, but the inlet through 
which they came has long since disappeared. The closing of inlets as far 
north as New York has not been of infrequent occurrence in the course 
of the last century, nor has the accretion or recession of land where the 
waves and storms have played upon it. Near Chincoteague Inlet, Vir- 
ginia, is a comparatively new harbor, known as the Assateague Anchorage. 
It owes its existence to a natural change in the coast line at the south 
end of Assateague Island, which has converted an exposed bight into a 
well-protected and much-frequented harbor. This harbor is preferred 
by local shipping to some of the artificial harbors of refuge along the 
coast. It has an added importance because it is the only harbor between 
the entrances to the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, but it must be 
examined frequently in order that the shifting sands may be so charted 
as not to deceive the mariner. Advancing along the coast to the New 
Jersey and Delaware shores, where the shipping is more conspicuous, it 
is worth mentioning that at the present time the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey stands in need of funds to survey and resurvey about 13,000 
square miles offshore. There are shoals constantly forming on these 
shores which should be examined and charted in the interest of navi- 
gation. This is territory which is presumed to have passed the pioneer 
stage, but it evinces that same disposition to conform to the forces of 
nature that prevail in less frequented waters. More remarkable than 
this, however, is the situation with respect to the waters approaching the 
great metropolis of New York. The rivers and harbors bill now pending 
in the House of Representatives carries an appropriation of $700,000 to 



Centennial Celebration 67 

extend and deepen the channel from the sea to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 
a very important work that should have been attended to long ago. 
The reason for this appropriation is that there are obstructions in the 
channel, possibly of rock formation, which make navigation perilous for 
the dreadnaughts of the Navy. When vessels of 12 feet draft were 
sailing into New York Harbor it made no difference about this channel, 
but the increase in the size and draft of vessels has made a difference, and 
the lead and the drag must be put in use again. There are rocks in the 
East River, as everyone knows, some of which are of the pinnacle type, 
and strange as it may seem they have only recently been located. As 
late as 191 5 the wire drag was used by the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
in the East River, locating certain dangerous shoals which are a menace 
to navigation and which in the event of war would seriously handicap 
our battleships. If commercial New York, exposed as it is to the guns 
of a hostile fleet, is still making discoveries of dangerous formations and 
obstructions in its waterways, it is high time that the people elsewhere 
along our coast lines should wake up to the importance of increasing and 
developing the Coast and Geodetic Service. I have not time to further 
discuss the work along the Atlantic coast except to say that the Maine 
coast abounds in rocks and shoals and the wire-drag service is badly 
needed there, as it is all along the New England coast. The report of a 
recent survey in the vicinity of the Rockland naval trial course dis- 
covered no less than four shoals on any one of which a battleship might 
have been seriously damaged. It is noteworthy also that in a survey to 
the approaches to Narragansett Bay, of which we are proud to boast as 
one of the most beautiful sheets of water along the seaboard, evidences 
oi hidden formations were discovered. Only two years ago the wire-drag 
party discovered no less than 50 shoals at the entrance to Buzzards Bay, 
which is coming into prominence because of the newly constructed Cape 
Cod Canal, and that is getting close to home. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I join with you in celebrating the hundredth 
anniversary of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. It has had a long and 
useful career. It has been less appreciated than it deserves. Its work 
is not finished; it never will be. So long as the winds and tidal currents 
exist, so long as the waters of the ocean beat upon our shores, so long 
as the waterways and canals of the interior are capable of bearing the 
burden of commerce, just so long will the work of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey be necessary for the promotion of trade and the preservation of 
life and property, and just so long should it be generously and amply 
supported by a grateful people. 

Mr. Jones: I know we are very thankful to Representative Moore for 
telling us so vividly of the great practical value of the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey in further protecting the waters and harbors of our great 
coast. 



68 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

West Point is the oldest engineering school in the United States. Its 
cadets are trained there not only to be military men but engineers also. 
The Corps of Engineers of the Army is charged with the chatting of the 
Great Lakes, with the development of our harbors, and also with the 
control and improvement of the great streams of our vast territory. The 
engineers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey have been closely and inti- 
mately associated for the past century with that great organization. 
We are honored to-night by having with us one eminently fitted to tell 
of its great work in relation to that of the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, and I take pleasure in presenting to you General W. M. Black, 
Chief of Engineers of the United States Army. 

THE UNITED STATES CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND ITS RELATION TO THE 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

General Black: Mr. Superintendent, ladies, and gentlemen, it gives me 
great pleasure to be permitted in this centennial celebration to speak of 
the work and of the association in work of the Corps of Engineers and 
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, two bodies of public servants 
the record of whose achievements in scientific research and in the faithful 
performance of work for the public welfare must ever form a bright page 
in our country's history. This association began with the organization 
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

The Corps of Engineers was organized as a separate body in 1802 and 
of it the United States Military Academy formed a part. The first 
Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey was appointed from 
the staff of instructors of the Academy — Ferdinand R. Hassler. He 
served at the Academy as acting professor of mathematics from 1 807 until 
1 810. Professor Hassler had made a reputation of note as surveyor in 
his native Switzerland before leaving there in 1805. When the neces- 
sity for the better mapping of our coasts was impressed upon President 
Jefferson, he selected Professor Hassler to take charge, though it was not 
until 1 81 6 that the work of the Coast Survey actually started. About a 
year later the work was discontinued, though the survey of the coasts was 
carried on thereafter by officers of Engineers and of the Navy until the 
Bureau resumed its operations under Superintendent Hassler in 1832. 

Among the Engineer officers on duty on survey work prior to 1832 
was John J. Abert, who as major and lieutenant colonel was engaged in 
many surveys of the coast from 1816 to 1827. 

In addition, for several years, beginning in 181 8, the international 
boundary surveys required under the treaty of Ghent were carried on 
along the northern boundaries of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, 
and Maine. Second Lieutenant Delafield, Captain Partridge, and Pro- 
fessor Ellicott, of the Corps of Engineers, and Professor Hassler, of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, were engaged in the work. 



Centennial Celebration 69 

When in 1 843 it was deemed necessary to reorganize the Coast Survey, 
again the Corps of Engineers lent its aid. On the recommendation of the 
principal national scientific societies, Alexander Dallas Bache, a graduate 
of the Military Academy of 1825 and during his period of service in the 
Army an officer of the Corps of Engineers, was appointed Superin- 
tendent and he remained the head of the Survey until his death in 1867. 

In announcing his death the Secretary of the Treasury used these 
words : 

No man within the present generation was more widely known in the walks of 
practical science; none has been so closely identified with collateral service in the 
various public departments. Under his direction that great work (the Coast Survey) 
has been eminent no less for its abundant results than for its high scientific character, 
which won the approbation of the leading learned bodies of the world, among whom 
his name has been held in honor. 

From 1843 through a period of many years officers of both the Army and 
Navy served by detail with the Coast Survey Bureau. Thus we find 
Captain A. A. Humphreys, corps of topographic engineers, served as 
assistant in charge of the Coast Survey office at Washington from 
1844 to 1849 and on surveys in the field during 1849 and 1850; Captain 
Thomas J. Cram, corps of topographic engineers, served as assist- 
ant in the Geodetic Survey of the coast of New England from 1847 to 
1855 and of the coast of North Carolina from 1858 to 1861; Isaac I. 
Stevens, first lieutenant and brevet major, Corps of Engineers, was 
assistant in charge of the Coast Survey office in Washington from 1 849 to 
1853; Captain H. W. Benham, Corps of Engineers, held the same position 
from 1853 to 1856; and Lieutenant William P. Trowbridge, Corps of Engi- 
neers, was on duty with the Coast Survey from 1851 to 1856, and after 
his resignation from the Army was an assistant in the Coast Survey from 
1857 to 1 861. It may be interesting to note also that the zenith tele- 
scope, with which the most reliable determinations of latitude are made, 
was the invention of Captain Andrew Talcott, of the Corps of Engineers. 
Similarly, the wire drag or sweep used for locating subsurface obstruc- 
tions, where large areas must be covered, was first devised and used by 
the Corps of Engineers. This record shows how directly the Corps of 
Engineers has been interested in the work itself of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. 

During the past half century the two services have had few opportuni- 
ties to associate in the same work, the last which I now recall having been 
the Mexican boundary survey between 1890 and 1895, conducted by a 
commission in which the Corps of Engineers and the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey were represented and the Mississippi River Commission on which 
the two organizations have representatives. 

But the association of the two organizations does not end with this. 
Their work is mutually helpful. 



70 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

When a tidal harbor is to be improved the first recourse of the Army 
engineer is to the maps of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. The latest 
are studied to show existing dangers. Then these are compared with 
earlier issues to mark the changes which have occurred, and by a study of 
these changes to discover a probable cause for existing shoals and a course 
of action which will lead to a permanent improvement. The tide tables 
are studied for tidal ranges and periodicity. Finally, when the detailed 
investigations and surveys are to be made to determine the nature and 
cost of the work required, again recourse is had, if possible, to the record 
of permanent triangulation stations established by the Bureau and of their 
positions relative to the work. 

Then the aid of the generally honest but usually uninformed citizen is 
frequently apparent. Some years ago I was making a study for the im- 
provement of a certain reach of the St. Johns River, Florida. A survey 
of the reach had been made and I wished to compare it with the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey map of the same reach made some years before. 
Unfortunately the changes of shore line had been too great to make an 
accurate comparison of the maps easy, but the records showed that the 
Bureau had laid out and monumented a base line at a point on shore. So 
the survey party landed to tie these older monuments into the later 
triangulation system. One monument was readily found, but the other, 
at a known distance and in a known direction, could not be discovered. 
After a search had been conducted for some time a native who had 
watched the work in an interested way inquired what was wanted. On 
being told, he said, "Oh, I will show you where that stone is. It's right 
over there among those trees. I wanted a stone for my wife's grave and 
put it there. You can take it again if you want it." 

So all along our coast the general information gathered by the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey is used and when necessary is extended by local 
surveys by the Corps of Engineers. Free interchange of information is 
made between the organizations, and the survey work of one supplements 
the work of the other. By standing regulations, whenever in the course 
of an improvement a new map is made by the Engineers, a copy must be 
supplied to the Coast and Geodetic Survey and is used by that Bureau 
to revise earlier editions of its own charts. Similarly, when tidal currents 
or tidal ranges are to be considered and studied, an interchange of obser- 
vations is made. Sometimes, as I have found to my own discomfiture, 
the united studies of both bodies fail to supply a solution to the problem. 
This only shows that neither body knows it all and that much remains to 
be learned before it can be said that the mighty forces of the ocean, with 
which both organizations deal, are thoroughly understood. 

In a recent examination of the East River, New York, it became nec- 
essary to study the tidal ranges and tidal currents in order to determine, if 
possible, what would be the effect of certain proposed works. Again recourse 
was had to the records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Between 1 872 



Centennial Celebration 71 

and 1878 and from 1885 to 1887 Professor Henry Mitchell had made care- 
ful studies of these currents. New observations at other sections of the 
river were made by the Engineers, and this work checked closely with 
the earlier determinations. Inasmuch as the field work for studies of 
this character is difficult and expensive such a check was of great value, 
for on the results were based recommendations for large expenditures. 

The problems presented by the tidal and current movements of the 
ocean are complicated and difficult. Though this subject has been 
investigated through centuries, it can not be claimed that our knowl- 
edge is complete, and it is misleading to place too great reliance on 
theory. 

In one of the textbooks formerly used in the celebrated French "Ecole 
des Ponts et Chaussees" there is a paragraph which has always seemed 
to me noteworthy, both for unconscious humor and for the underlying 
truth involved. It is found in the description of the ocean movements. 
After stating the theory of the laws governing tidal and wave action, 
it says that a celebrated mathematician once studied out a formula 
from which, with proper entry of known terms, the status of the move- 
ments of the great deep could be determined for any epoch since the 
creation of the world, but adds that unfortunately the formula could 
not be integrated and even if that could have been done, the results 
would probably have proved wrong by reason of unknown factors. 

More observations and more study are required, and required at points 
so separated and under conditions so different, that conclusions deduced 
from all may be capable of general application. The formulas of 
to-day must be retried and recast so that they may be useful practically. 

The end to be attained by such studies is practical. One example 
will suffice. The Hudson River is a tidal stream for 150 miles above 
its mouth. In 1831 the tidal range at the limit of tidal action, the dam 
at Troy, was 1.09 feet. Since that date the channel of the upper river 
has been straightened and deepened. To-day the tidal range at Troy is 
about 3 feet and the plane of mean low water has been lowered. It is 
desired to deepen the channel farther. Until the causes which govern 
the height and rate of progress of the tidal wave through the various 
channel widths and depths traversed from the mouth to Troy are 
known, the exact effect of the further improvement of the channel on 
the range and plane of mean low water of the upper river can only be 
estimated, and the depth to which the dredging must be carried can be 
determined only approximately. Fortunately the quantity of excava- 
tion involved in the present project is not so large as to make this a 
matter of great moment. But should the wishes of the people of Albany 
and Troy be fulfilled and an attempt be made to give a depth of 25 or 
30 feet as far as Troy, an error in the assumed elevation of the plane 
of final reference — that of mean low water after the improvement shall 
have been completed — might prove very costly. Studies are now being 



72 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

carried on with a view to disclosing the causes of the variations in the 
range and velocity of the tidal wave in the river below, and interesting 
data have been gathered, but as yet the problem is not solved. 

Scientific research of this kind falls within the duties of both the 
Corps of Engineers and the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the amount 
of study to be given seems to be limited only by the funds available for 
the work. Each increment gained for human knowledge is but one 
step in advance and the path to omniscience in any subject is too long 
to be measurable. 

To the unthinking it might appear that once the coasts had been 
mapped the need for further surveys would cease. Such is not the case. 
The sea is both a builder and a destroyer of shores, and her labors are 
unceasing. Maps need constant and periodic revisions. They are eyes 
for the mariner and must show clearly and accurately the hidden perils 
below the surface. Only those experienced in this work can appreciate 
its difficulties and its dangers. A century of faithful effort has not 
sufficed for the accurate and detailed mapping of all of our coasts and 
the need for revision is ever recurring. 

In yet another way is the work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
useful to and utilized by the Corps of Engineers of the Army. One of 
the duties of the latter is the formation of projects for the national 
defenses. In this the maps of the coast as well as the detailed descrip- 
tion of the coasts and the harbors found in the Coast Pilots are inval- 
uable aids. The permanent seacoast defenses are located with a view 
to forbidding to an enemy the use of the channels of approach to the 
more important harbors. The records of the Corps of Engineers show 
that prior to the organization of the Coast Survey an important part 
of the work of the Engineer officers was in surveying and mapping the 
water areas -which would have to be covered by the fire from proposed 
fortifications. Further, the entire coast must be studied to determine 
possible landing points for a hostile expedition in order that plans may 
be made for such dispositions of the mobile forces as will provide for the 
most effective defense against such an attack. 

The work of the Corps of Engineers and that of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey touch at many points. The harbor surveys made by the Corps 
of Engineers are local and for the determination of specific questions. 
Those of the Coast and Geodetic Survey are those required for the in- 
formation of mariners. There need be and should be no interference 
and no duplication of work. The best results for the Nation which 
both serve can be obtained from that cordial cooperation in the future 
which has existed in the past. 

The great work done by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in its hundred 
years of existence and the traditions of faithful labor well performed will 
always be an inspiration to further effort. May the Survey continue 
steadfast in its work, and may it receive such substantial recognition 



Centennial Celebration 73 

from the Nation it has served so well as to permit the record for the 
coming hundred years to outshine the brilliant achievements of the 
century whose close we now celebrate. 

Mr. Jones : I am sure it has been a pleasure for all of us to hear how 
two great Government bureaus have worked so closely together during 
the past ioo years, and we are greatly indebted to General Black for 
telling us so clearly of this cooperation. 

The next address will be "The lighthouse Service and Its Relation 
to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey." Our nautical 
charts would lose much of their value if from them were omitted the 
objects known as "aids to navigation" that guide the navigator. The 
Bureau of Lighthouses plays an important part in making these charts. 
The Commissioner of Lighthouses spent many years as an officer of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey before he assumed his present duties. He 
is therefore peculiarly and eminently fitted to tell us just how the two 
bureaus are closely affiliated. It affords me pleasure to introduce to 
you Mr. George R. Putnam, Commissioner of Lighthouses. 

THE LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE AND ITS RELATION TO THE UNITED STATES 
COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Mr. Putnam: Mr. Superintendent, ladies and gentlemen, I am asked 
this evening to speak on "The Lighthouse Service and Its Relation to 
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey." When I left college 
I came to Washington to work for the Coast and Geodetic Survey. The 
Superintendent at that time was Doctor Mendenhall, whom we are all so 
glad to see in Washington again to-day. I do not care to mention the 
salary which he offered me to come here at that time. It makes me 
feel envious when I see the compensation given to young men coming 
into the Lighthouse Service and the Survey now, but I had many years 
of interesting work in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and so I never 
regret the small compensation that I began with. 

Before taking up my subject I wish to extend the congratulations of 
the sister bureau to the Coast and Geodetic Survey on this anniversary 
occasion. There are probably few bureaus of the Government whose 
work lies more along parallel lines than does the work of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey and the Lighthouse Service. Not only does their work 
touch in many points, but they are contiguous in their territorial exten- 
sion; and the field of each embraces in general the coast line of the 
United States and of the territories belonging thereto. 

All progressive maritime countries have recognized their obligation 
to survey their coasts and to light and mark them ; this is a duty not only 
for the benefit of their own people, but it is an international obligation 
of the highest character. There are instances where a Government 
maintains a light in a position where it is of more benefit to foreign 



74 U- S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

vessels than to its own, where a considerable part of the passing shipping 
making use of the light is not bound to or from the ports of the country 
maintaining it. The light at Cape Maysi, the east point of Cuba, prob- 
ably aids few vessels bound to Cuba as compared with the number 
of passing ships of all countries. The great flashing lights at the Straits 
of Dover guide numerous vessels which do not call at an English or a 
French port. 

When a country builds a lighthouse or establishes a fog signal or pub- 
lishes a chart of its coast or surveys a portion of the uncharted waters 
of the earth it aids the whole family of maritime nations, and such works 
show an international public spirit which it is so desirable should be 
developed. 

The importance of lighthouses and other aids to navigation was 
recognized at the very beginning of our National Government. At the 
first session of the Federal Congress an act was passed, approved August 
7, 1789, providing that all expenses "in the necessary support, main- 
tenance, and repairs of all lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public piers 
erected, placed, or sunk before the passing of this act, at the entrance 
of, or within any bay, inlet, harbor, or port of the United States, for 
rendering the navigation thereof easy and safe, shall be defrayed out 
of the Treasury of the United States." Thus, the lighthouse work was 
one of the earliest technical works undertaken by the General Govern- 
ment. Early in that century, in 17 16, 200 years ago, the colony of 
Massachusetts had built at Boston the first lighthouse on this continent. 

There were but eight lighthouses in operation within the United States 
when the work was taken over in 1789. From that small beginning has 
grown the present Lighthouse Service of this country, the most exten- 
sive lighthouse system under a single organization in the world. It 
maintains 14,544 a ids to navigation, of which 5,155 are lights, it employs 
5,792 persons, uses 113 vessels in its work, and marks the sea and lake 
coasts and navigable rivers of the United States and its insular and other 
outlying territory with the exception of the Philippines and the Canal 
Zone. 

The lighthouses were at first directly under the charge of the Secretary 
of the Treasury. In 1852 the Lighthouse Board was organized, and in 
1 910 Congress established the present Bureau of Lighthouses. 

Although charged with what seems to be a simple and practical duty, 
maintaining lights, fog signals, buoys and beacons to guide vessels, yet 
that duty has required, in order to reach the highest effectiveness, the 
utilization of available apparatus and the development of new apparatus 
of a high older. The work of the physicist, the electrician, the civil engi- 
neer, the mechanical engineer, and the naval architect have all been 
drawn upon in the equipment and upbuilding of the lighthouse estab- 
lishment. There has been a continuous and steady advance from the 
time of the first lighthouse in this country. The common fish-oil lamp 



Centennial Celebration 75 

was early replaced by the Argand burner, and later the intensity of the 
light was increased by using a number of concentric wicks. Sperm oil 
was replaced by lard oil as an illuminant, and this by kerosene. A very 
marked advance was made a few years ago by the introduction of the 
oil-vapor lamp, greatly increasing the candlepower from a given quan- 
tity of kerosene. Electric lights are employed at some stations and light 
vessels, and acetylene and oil gas lights have proved valuable for cer- 
tain purposes. Reflectors were early used and the Fresnel lens was 
introduced in this country in 1841. An important advance has been the 
introduction of improved apparatus, roller bearings or mercury floats, 
for revolving heavy lenses, as well as occulting apparatus. As a result 
of this nearly all the principal lights have been given distinctive char- 
acteristics. The early fog signals were only the gun and the hand bell 
but steady advance has since been made. Bells with mechanical strik- 
ers, trumpets, horns, steam and air whistles, sirens, diaphones, bell and 
whistle buoys, submarine bells, have in turn been added, and now there 
is prospect of the radio fog signal. The advance in buoys has been 
marked by larger and more prominent iron buoys, and sounding buoys, 
and particularly by the lighted buoys which have been so greatly improved 
and increased in number in recent years. The early light vessels, so 
often adrift and powerless, have been gradually improved up to the 
present full-powered lightship with flashing light and powerful fog signal. 
Not many years ago it was considered impracticable without frequent loss 
to maintain a light vessel off Cape Hatteras, and yet vessels have now 
been on this station almost continuously for nearly 20 years. The lead- 
ing maritime countries have contributed to the steady advance in light- 
house engineering and our Service has not hesitated to draw from any 
source available, but a number of important advances have been made 
here. 

The desirable distribution along a coast of lights and other aids depends 
on the maritime importance of the coast, on its physical character and 
on the prevailing meteorological conditions, and the problem varies 
greatly on different portions of the coast of the United States. The 
North Atlantic coast has, for instance, both a large transoceanic com- 
merce and a large coasting trade, and several of its harbors rank among 
the world's great seaports. On the other hand, there are considerable 
stretches of the western and northern Alaska coast which are approached 
by very little shipping. The coasts of New England and of southern 
Alaska are rock bound and rugged and very intricate, with indentations, 
islands, rocks, and reefs; most of the Pacific coast is precipitous and 
rocky but of simple outline; and much of the South Atlantic and Gulf 
coast is low and sandy, of simple contour but with extensive inside 
navigable waters. 

On the Atlantic coast north of Cape Hatteras, with slight exceptions, 
the main lights are placed at such intervals that their arcs of visibility 



76 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

overlap. The American shores of the Great Lakes are nearly continu- 
ously lighted, as are the South Atlantic coast from Cape Romain to the 
end of the Florida Reefs, and about half of the Pacific coast. On the 
balance of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts there are unlighted 
stretches between the lights which stand on the projecting headlands. 
Along the enormous coast line of Alaska there are only a few general 
coast lights, but the principal inside channel is nearly continuously 
lighted. On the great Mississippi River system there are 2,696 aids 
marking 4,246 miles of channel, being an average of about two aids to 
each 3 miles of channel. 

The conditions as to fog differ greatly on various parts of the coasts of 
the United States. The North Atlantic coast and portions of the Pacific 
and Alaska coast are extremely foggy, while on the South Atlantic and 
Gulf coasts and in Porto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands there is little fog. 
The average number of hours of fog for a year decreases from 874 hours 
on the coast of Maine to 165 hours on the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 
There is a moderate amount of fog on the Great Lakes, the average of 
116 stations being 332 hours a year. The highest record of fog for a year 
at any station is 2,734 hours (about 30 per cent of the total time) at 
Seguin light station, Maine, and there is a record of 2,145 hours of fog in 
a year at the San Francisco Light Vessel. 

The distribution of fog signals along the coasts has, of course, con- 
formed to the needs imposed by these fog conditions. On the Atlantic 
coast from Cape Lookout northward there are 610 fog signals of all kinds, 
including sounding buoys, while on more than double this extent of coast 
south of Cape Lookout and along the Gulf coast there are 103 fog signals. 
If sounding buoys are not included, there are along the Atlantic coast 
from Cape Lookout northward 330 fog signals, or considerably more than 
half of the total of 577 maintained by the Service; there are 32 on 
the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, 76 on the Pacific coast, 10 on the 
Alaskan coast, and 129 on the Great Lakes. There are no fog signals in 
Porto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands. Of the total of 467 bell and 
whistle buoys maintained, 280 are on the northern half of the Atlantic 
coast, 34 on the Great Lakes, and 71 on the Pacific coast. 

An accurate and thorough hydrographic survey of the coast is a neces- 
sary preliminary to the intelligent location of lighthouses and buoys and 
beacons; the relation of the headland, rock or shoal to the navigable 
water areas must be known and studied before the guide mark can be 
placed in the best position. It is true that lighthouses had been estab- 
lished on the prominent headlands before accurate charts existed, but it 
is evident that buoys and beacons and lights can not be systematically 
placed until waters have been charted; in fact, without an accurate chart 
it is always possible that a buoy or beacon may be stationed so as to lead 
a vessel directly onto some hidden and unknown danger. 



Centennial Celebration 77 

The relation of these works of surveying a coast and of properly mark- 
ing it is close and supplementary. The reef or dangerous rock, when it is 
located in the survey, requires the buoy or spindle to mark it if near the 
track of navigation. The survey not only develops the proper location 
for the aid to navigation, but the chart when published is the best means 
of giving information as to the lighthouses and buoys and their location 
with respect to the channels and navigable waters. 

The wire-drag work in the development of shoals which has been ex- 
tended so greatly in recent years by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and 
the Lake Survey has been of great value in definitely determining dan- 
gers and clear areas. This work is an excellent example of the related 
duties of the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Lighthouse Service, 
for immediately on the discovery of uncharted dangers by the wire 
drag the data are furnished to the latter, and if the obstruction is 
of a character to imperil shipping it is promptly marked by a buoy or 
otherwise. An example of this was the wire-drag work last year in the 
approaches to Portland, Maine, which developed the necessity for three 
additional buoys, and the moving of two buoys to better mark the shoals. 
A number of additions to and changes in the buoyage in the vicinity of 
Key West, Florida, have been made as a result of the wire-drag surveys 
there, and there are many other instances of the same character. Wire- 
drag work in Alaska has resulted in the addition of buoys to mark sunken 
rocks in the channels there. One difficulty of extending the aids to 
navigation in Alaska has been the lack of sufficient surveys on consider- 
able portions of that coast. 

The lighthouse work and the coast survey work have an important 
object in common; the purpose of both is to protect mariners and keep 
them out of danger, to give the shipmaster all possible help to steer a 
safe course. One gives him the map showing where the water is safe for 
his vessel, the other gives him the light, foghorn, and buoy to guide him 
over this course. Although their primary duty is to keep vessels out of 
danger, yet frequently they have opportunity to aid in life-saving and 
rescue work. The Lighthouse Service has its employees at every promi- 
nent headland and harbor entrance and its men on lightships and tenders 
on every section of the coast. These keepers and sailors effect many 
rescues and save many boats each year, and do not hesitate to take per- 
sonal risk when necessary. 

The two Services cooperate in many ways. The Coast and Geodetic 
Survey has made special surveys needed in connection with selecting the 
location for lighthouses and has determined the positions of landmarks 
necessary for locating buoys. The accurate positions of lighthouses are 
obtained in the triangulation of the Survey, and the positions of buoys are 
checked when surveys are in progress. The Lighthouse Service promptly 
marks new dangers located in the course of surveys and changes the 
position of buoys and other aids as is shown to be necessary by revised 



78 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

hydrography. It aids the Survey with any information obtained by its 
vessels, or otherwise, that will be of use in correcting the charts. 

The Lighthouse Service maintains nearly 12,000 aids to navigation 
aside from those on the interior rivers. The Coast Survey, the Lake 
Survey, and the Hydrographic Office publish about 800 different charts 
of the waters where these aids are located. The same section of the coast 
must necessarily be published on several different scale charts. With the 
overlaps of charts and the necessary repetition on different scales it is 
probable that a section of coast is on the average published three times. 
Sometimes a single aid may be shown on as many as six different charts, 
so that it may be estimated that the 12,000 aids are represented 20,000 
times or more on the charts. During the last year 1,949 notices to mari- 
ners were published by the Department of Commerce, a large portion of 
which refer to changes in the positions or characteristics of aids to naviga- 
tion, these changes being made necessary by changing conditions. It 
is evident, therefore, that a great amount of work is required in locating 
the aids correctly on the charts and in keeping this information correct, 
and in this work there must be close cooperation between the Lighthouse 
Service and the Coast and Geodetic Survey. On a single chart, that of 
New York Harbor, there are shown 299 aids to navigation. 

The relation of the work of these two services was recognized in the 
organization of the Lighthouse Board, which for 58 years conducted the 
lighthouse work of this country. The law required that in the member- 
ship of this board the President should appoint "two civilians of high 
scientific attainments," and for nearly all of this period one of these 
civilians was the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and 
the records of the board show active participation by these members, 
which included the names of Bache, Peirce, Mendenhall, and Pritchett. 

As both nature and the works of man are constantly changing the coast 
line, channels, and harbors, and as the course and needs of commerce also 
are ever varying, it is evident that both the charts and the beacons for 
the aid of mariners must ever be corrected and modified; therefore the 
cooperation in these two important works must always be continued as 
in the past. 

Mr. Jones: After hearing Commissioner Putnam's very excellent 
address, I think we can all realize how indispensable is the cooperation of 
the two bureaus. 

Our last address this evening is on "Hydrography and Charts, with 
Special Reference to the Work of the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey." 

Hydrographic surveying and the making of charts due to improved 
methods and new apparatus have changed greatly in the last half century. 
We have with us one who is fitted to tell us how these are done, and I take 
pleasure in introducing to you Mr. George Washington Littlehales, hydro- 
graphic engineer of the Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy. 



Centennial Celebration 79 

HYDROGRAPHY AND CHARTS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK 
OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Mr. LiTTLEHALEs : A century ago the States and the people, through 
their Senators and Representatives in Congress, authorized the President 
of the United States "to cause a survey to be taken of the coasts of the 
United States in which shall be designated the islands and shoals, with 
the roads or places of anchorage, within 20 leagues of any part of the 
shores of the United States; and also the respective courses and distances 
between the principal capes or headlands, together with such other mat- 
ters as he may deem proper for completing an accurate chart of every 
part of the coasts within the extent aforesaid." 

The Congress has shown the strength of intention underlying this 
enactment by making almost continuous annual appropriations through- 
out the 100 intervening years, and by authorizing as an additional aid to 
the prosecution of so important a public task large drafts from the Army 
in earlier years, and yet larger ones from the Navy whenever and as long 
as they could be spared from the exacting needs of the battle fleet. 

How was this justifiable, and how justifiable was it? The results 
served the life of the Nation. No cargo is ever exported or brought 
home without invoking the protection of this Survey; no ship ever enters 
or leaves our ports without receiving its fostering aid. 

In proceeding oceanward from the borders of the continent, along which 
the triangulation or mensurational framework of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey has been conducted and the topography delineated, the land dips 
gradually under the sea. It is the province of marine hydrography, by 
means of measurements of the depth of sea located in position with refer- 
ence to the triangulation on shore, to discover and to chart the features of 
these submerged bordering lands, thereby indicating the hidden dangers 
to be avoided by mariners and the channels where safety is to be sought 
in the guidance of shipping. Thus, the mission of the hydrographer is 
that of a pathfinder to lead the way to our ports and harbors, not only 
at home but also in the distant countries beyond the seas. This he does 
by means of charts 1 portraying the conditions in the near and remote 
approaches to the coasts, and in the bays and roadsteads, and in the 
ports and anchorages. Their numbers reach hundreds and hundreds, 
and they are all graded in their design and execution to suit the needs 
of those who need the sea — to tell the seafarer when there is a favoring 
tide, and by how much his compass declines from the true meridian, and 
to warn him where his safety is beset. 

It must be with no small degree of pride that men should trace their 
professional lineage to a calling which has prepaid the premiums of a 
policy of insurance upon the sea-borne commerce of the United States 
and made the coast of the United States its best known geographical 

1 Reference was here made to the specimen charts and publications of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
exhibition, which occupied the hall of approach to the chamber in which t lie exercises were being held. 



80 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

feature — a calling reaching so far back into the history of our country, 
so enriched with the heroisms of the sea and with honored names, and so 
unexcelled for the aggregate of its influences in promoting the security 
of shipping and safeguarding the lives of seamen. 

Mr. Jones: I want to thank Mr. Littlehales for his very excellent 
paper and to announce that our exercises will be continued to-morrow 
afternoon at 2 o'clock. 



AFTERNOON SESSION, APRIL 6, 1916 



Mr. Jones: Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday we heard a great deal of 
the history of the Coast and Geodetic Survey during the past century 
and its work on the waters of our vast country. To-day we will hear 
something about its work on land. There are very few things that inter- 
est scientists, as well as business men, more than measuring the size and 
shape of the earth. The geodesist is coming into his own, and each day 
we see added interest and we know more of the real value of his work 
throughout our country. 

We have with us this afternoon a man who has already served his 
apprenticeship in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and 
through his work the division of geodesy in a large measure was placed on 
a firmer footing. The subject of his address will be "The Contribution 
of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey to Geodesy." I take 
great pleasure in introducing to you Professor William Henry Burger, of 
the College of Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, 111. 

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY TO GEODESY 

Professor Burger: In the earlier days of the Coast Survey, whose cen- 
tennial is now being commemorated, the geodetic function, as such, was 
little in evidence. It was then simply an aid in. carrying on the work 
outlined in the act of 1807, which provided for a survey of the coasts of 
the United States, in order to provide accurate charts of every part of the 
coast and adjacent waters. 

Upon the reorganization of the Survey in 1843 the corner stone was 
laid for that fine system of geodetic works which the Survey has at present. 
In this reorganization two very prominent features, from a geodetic 
standpoint, are to be noted. The first is the man who was the dominant 
figure in the board of reorganization and the second is the principles he 
advocated. Probably no other man has had the influence upon the geodetic 
operationsof theSurveyas had Superintendent F. R. Hassler, and probably 
no one thing has been of such importance to these operations as the sci- 
entific methods proposed by him. To him belongs the credit that to-day 
the operations of the Survey are bound together by a trigonometric 
survey with long lines and executed by the most accurate instruments 
and the most refined methods, rather than being correlated by purely 
astronomical observations. Due to his farsightedness, the best of founda- 
44282°— 16 6 81 



82 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

tions was thus laid for geodetic operations, and from this time geodesy 
became an important part of the Survey's work. 

A further impetus was given to the work when, shortly after the close 
of the Civil War, Congress authorized a geodetic connection between the 
Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. The result of this was 
the great transcontinental arc of triangulation along the thirty-ninth par- 
allel of latitude, one of the most famous arcs in the history of geodesy and 
one which has helped to place the United States in the front rank of the 
nations carrying on geodetic operations. One of the immediate results 
was the recognition of the geodetic function as an important part of the 
Coast Survey's work, and in 1878 the Survey's title officially became 
"The Coast and Geodetic Survey." 

TRANSCONTINENTAL ARC 

The great triangulation system along the thirty-ninth parallel is 
probably the greatest single contribution to the world's geodesy that has 
been made by any one country. It marks an epoch in the scientific 
history of the United States and in that of the world. The results of the 
work are most important and far-reaching to geodesy, geography, geology, 
and the other earth sciences. 

It is the longest arc of a parallel ever undertaken by a single nation, 
being more than 48 ° of longitude between its extremities, or about one- 
eighth of the earth's circuit, and is more than half the length of the com- 
bined arcs (measured by various nations) used by Clarke in deriving 
the figure of the earth in 1 880. 

The nature of the country traversed by the arc developed new ideas in 
reconnoissance, signal building, triangulation, and methods of comput- 
ing, which have had an important bearing on all subsequent work. By 
means of it unity and consistency have been secured in the geodetic work 
of the Survey. It has proved a bond between the many separate parts 
of the Survey's work. These, at first, existed as a number of detached 
portions, in each of which the datum was necessarily dependent upon the 
astronomic observations. The transcontinental triangulation joined 
these detached portions and made them into one continuous system 
dependent upon the same geodetic and astronomic data. 

From a higher scientific standpoint this arc is a great contribution to 
geodesy in giving data for the determination of the earth's shape and 
size, but, like any other arc of a parallel, it must be combined with an arc 
in the north and south direction to obtain its full power in this respect. 

EASTERN OBLIQUE ARC 

In the eastern oblique arc the United States has another arc of note, 
which covers some 22 and extends from the Bay of Fundy to the Gulf 
of Mexico at New Orleans. This was the direct result of Hassler's plans, 



Centennial Celebration 83 

was the scene of his last labors, and had for its main object the binding 
together of the detached surveys of the harbors on the Atlantic coast. 

Unlike the transcontinental arc, it has all the elements necessary for 
the determination of the figure of the earth. It is the first arc which 
made use, on a large scale, of measurements oblique to the meridian. One 
of its great effects on the geodesy of the United States was that through it 
came the rejection, in 18S0, of Bessel's spheroid of reference and the adop- 
tion of the Clarke spheroid of 1866 as the reference spheroid to be used 
by this country. 

ASSISTANT CHARLES A. SCHOTT 

Many men took part in furnishing the data for these two arcs and in the 
resulting computations, but no name stands forth so prominently as that 
of Assistant Charles A. Schott, the " Grand Old Man," who for more 
than 50 years was identified with the work of the Survey. His labors in 
the field and office did much to bring this work to a most successful finish, 
and it is fitting that credit be given him for the two monumental volumes 
of results which it was his privilege to see completed before death came. 
For this work, and for the work done in many other lines of the Survey's 
activities, I do not hesitate to mention the work of Mr. Schott as one of 
the great contributions made by the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the 
geodesy of the world. 

The Survey was particularly fortunate in having such a man in charge 
of geodetic work, one who could see the full wisdom in the plans of Mr. 
Hassler, who consistently worked for their fulfillment, and who was able 
to have these plans transmitted to his successors, Assistant John F. Hay- 
ford and Assistant William Bowie. This furnished a continuity of plan 
which probably stands unrivaled in the scientific history of the world, 
and has been one of the big factors in the great success attendant upon 
the geodetic operations of the Survey. 

RECENT TRIANGULATION 

Since the completion of the two arcs mentioned, the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey has added many more arcs to its system, until the total length of 
the combined arcs is more than 1 50 of a great circle of the earth, or about 
three-sevenths of the circuit of the globe. Incorporated into the system 
and placed on one datum are also the many miles of coast triangulation 
of the Survey and much of the triangulation executed by the Lake Survey 
and by the United States Engineers, until now the system stands without 
an equal in any nation. 

In the closing years of the last century a new era in geodetic operations 
by the Coast and Geodetic Survey was begun. The work of the past was 
searched for the best in instruments and methods, field and office methods 
were standardized, limits of accuracy were set, and where it seemed 
advisable new methods and instruments were devised to meet the ehaivj;- 



84 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

ing conditions of the work. This era may be characterized as a period 
of great speed and low costs, with the previous accuracy maintained. 

Never before had triangulation been executed with such rapidity and 
with such economy in operations. It is significant that this was attained 
without a reduction in accuracy and, in fact, had the effect of an ultimate 
increase in accuracy, for, owing to the speed, many more circuits could 
be added to the network, thus strengthening the whole system. 

As an example of the speed and economy of operation in this last 
period the Texas-California arc of about 20 is cited. The reconnoissance 
on this arc was done by two men in 145 days and the primary observa- 
tions in a total of 183 days at a cost of $400 per station and of $32 per 
mile of progress. Nearly 50 years were spent on the transcontinental 
arc of 48 , with a cost of $2,000 per station and $200 per mile of progress. 
This comparison is not intended to be derogatory to the latter arc, for 
the work on that arc was the best of any up to that date, and it was only 
through its work that the economy and speed of the later work was made 
possible. It is believed that no extensive arc in any other country 
equals the Texas-California arc or some of the other recent arcs of the 
United States in these respects. 

Since about 1900 practically all of the reconnoissance and signal build- 
ing has been in the hands of one man, Signalman Jasper S. Bilby, who as 
an expert along these lines probably stands unrivaled in the world to-day. 

UNITED STATES STANDARD DATUM 

A direct and far-reaching geodetic movement of influence, not only to 
the United States, but also one of great importance to the North American 
Continent, and also to the whole world, was initiated in the adoption by 
the Survey (in 1901) of the United States standard datum. It placed 
the geodetic work of the Survey on one datum for the correct coordina- 
tion of the geographic latitudes, longitudes, distances, and azimuths. 
From the scientist's standpoint it furnished accurate correlation of data 
for a study of the figure of the earth, of isostasy, and for other related 
sciences. 

By its adoption as the standard datum for geodetic operations in 
Canada and Mexico, it became a matter of international importance, and 
consequently its designation was changed by the Survey in 191 3 to that 
of the " North American datum." Plans are now under way for carrying 
the primary triangulation of the United States and Canada to the Yukon, 
and the prediction is here made that eventually the 50 miles which sepa- 
rate Alaska from Siberia will be spanned and a junction be effected with 
the great systems of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Then, with the extension 
from Mexico through Central and South America, the data will be avail- 
able for a " world datum," and the final word will have been said in the 
geodetic work of the earth. 



Centennial Celebration 85 

BASE-LINE MEASUREMENTS 

Closely related to, and forming an integral part of the triangulation 
executed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, is the measurement of the 
base lines for controlling the lengths in triangulation. In this work the 
Survey has furnished much of interest and of value to the geodesist. 
Ever has it kept keenly before it the necessity for refined measurements, 
and many valuable devices to accomplish this desired result have been 
added by members of the force. 

BASE BARS 

The Duplex bars, invented by Assistant William Eimbeck and con- 
structed by E. G. Fischer, are probably the best form of base bars ever 
devised, and gave a very high degree of precision; but they were soon 
replaced by the tape as a form of base apparatus. 

The only bar used in the United States, and probably in the world, 
which gives entire satisfaction, so far as accuracy is concerned, is the 
iced bar, designed by President R. S. Woodward, of the Carnegie Insti- 
tution, when an assistant in the Survey. Owing to the great cost per 
kilometer of base of using this form of apparatus for field work, when 
compared with the cost of using tapes, the iced bar is now used only for 
standardizing other apparatus, and for this purpose it remains unexcelled. 

STEEL TAPES 

In the Coast and Geodetic Survey the tape has supplanted the other 
forms of base apparatus. Credit for the introduction of steel wires and 
tapes for this purpose must be given to Professor Jaderin, of Sweden, but 
it was the accurate and extensive investigations made by Assistant Wood- 
ward in 1 89 1 which caused the adoption of tapes by the Survey. He 
proved that steel tapes, when used at night, and standarized under the 
same conditions that prevail during the base measures, gave essentially 
the same high degree of accuracy as the bars, with about one-third of 
the cost and with far greater rapidity. It is practically certain that no 
more base lines will be measured by base bars, at least in the United 
States, except when it is necessary to standardize the tapes. 

The remarkable measurement of nine base lines in one season, in 1900, 
by a single party, constitutes a noteworthy achievement. The nine 
bases had a total length of 43 miles and furnished a control of over 1,000 
miles of triangulation. In order to eliminate constant errors, five 
different sets of apparatus were used, and an average accuracy corre- 
sponding to a probable error of 1 part in 1 ,200,000 was secured. With 
this work a new epoch in base-line measurement was introduced, for it 
proved, through the most rigid of tests, that the tape had no superior 
for speed, economy, and ease of manipulation. 



86 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

INVAR TAPES 

In the use of invar tapes base measuring took another long step for- 
ward. Many severe tests have fully proved their excellence. They are 
found to possess practically all of the good features of the steel tapes 
but have the added advantage that they enable bases to be measured 
in the daytime and even on sunny days, a fact due to the small coefficient 
of expansion of invar, which is only about one-thirtieth that of the steel. 

Recently the plan has been adopted of having the bases measured by 
the triangulation party. By it base measurement has become simply 
an incident to the triangulation, and the cost has been reduced to about 
$60 per kilometer, a sum which is in great contrast to about $300 per 
kilometer with the Duplex bars. 

PRECISE LEVELING 

Practically all of the great nations of the earth have been actively 
engaged upon the difficult problem of determining the correct elevation 
of points far from their coast. It is a work which demands the highest 
degree of accurate observing and painstaking endeavor. It calls for 
especially designed instruments and methods of observation. These 
accurate elevations are needed for the reduction of base lines to mean 
sea level, for engineering operations of wide extent, and for the solution 
of scientific problems concerning gravity, the tides, and other work. 

In this leveling of precision the Coast and Geodetic Survey has added 
much to the world's work by attainments in field operations, methods of 
reduction, and scientific study of errors involved. In its great precise 
level net (greater than that of any other nation) there are more than 
13,000 bench marks, of which the elevations have all been accurately 
fixed through a single least square adjustment of more than 80 circuits 
with a total length of more than 33,000 miles. 

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY LEVEL 

Among the instruments of precision employed by the nations for pre- 
cise level work it may be truly said that none holds a higher rank than the 
type which has been in use in the Coast and Geodetic Survey since 1 900. 
This level was designed and built within the Survey by E. G. Fischer, 
chief of the instrument division, and after more than 15 years of con- 
stant service in all parts of the United States has shown itself to be, 
indeed, a superior instrument for accurate and rapid leveling. 

Before the introduction of this level the average rate of progress was 
less than 60 miles a month. Recent work, which is of much higher 
grade of accuracy, shows an average of about 100 miles, and one observer 
with a party of six men recently completed 148 miles of progress, or 
more than 300 miles of single line in one month. This constitutes a 
world record. 



Centennial Celebration 87 

Although precise leveling has been brought to the highest perfection 
in France, the work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, by the very 
magnitude of the operations, by the instruments employed, and by the 
economy in speed and cost is certainly without an equal in the geodetic 
world. 

ASTRONOMIC INSTRUMENTS AND DETERMINATIONS 

Considering astronomy as a definite part of its geodetic functions, the 
Survey by its inventions and improvements may justly claim to have 
demonstrated the superiority of the American methods for the deter- 
minations of terrestrial latitudes and longitudes and has secured their 
adoption in the practice of every great nation in the world by the incon- 
testible superiority proved for them. 

The credit for the discovery of the differential method for the deter- 
mination of latitude with the zenith telescope, despite a reference to the 
principle by the Danish astronomer Horrebow in the early part of the 
eighteenth century, is due to Captain Andrew Talcott, United States Corps 
of Engineers, who first employed it in 1834 and 1835, in the survey of the 
boundary line between Ohio and Michigan. But the introduction of this 
admirable method to its present world-wide use is due in a great measure 
to the wise appreciation of Superintendent Bache, who almost with his 
induction into office recognized its great importance and initiated the 
developments which inspired the folloAving tribute from the famous 
astronomer Gould : " To Bache we owe the recognition and adoption of 
this transcendent method and to him also those refinements of process 
and improvements of apparatus by which alone its accuracy is rendered 
possible." 

The distinction due for the discovery and introduction of the method 
now exclusively used for the determinations of longitudes is even more 
singularly an honor appropriate to the Survey, which, within a few 
months after the successful opening of Morse's first telegraph line, began 
the experiments for an application of its use to longitude determinations 
with such success that no change in principle has been found necessary 
in the methods perfected by Bache and his assistants. Thus, the present 
universally employed methods for exact determinations of the earth's 
most important geographic coordinates have been suggested and per- 
fected by American genius. To the work executed by the other civilized 
nations of the world the Survey has contributed many hundreds of astro- 
nomic latitudes, longitudes, and azimuth determinations, principally at 
stations connected with the great triangulation system. Methods of 
observing and computing have been standardized with a decided im- 
provement in speed and economy and with a most satisfactory increase 
in the annual amount of work executed. 

Since about 1904 all of the primary azimuths, in so far as was practi- 
cable, have been observed by the triangulation party during the progress 



88 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

of the work. It is believed that this plan gives the highest degree of 
accuracy, for the measurements are made under exactly the same con- 
ditions as the triangulation with which they are concerned, and the cost 
is very materially reduced. 

TELEGRAPHIC LONGITUDES 

The formation of the great telegraphic longitude net of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey is a geodetic feat worthy of special note. No less than 
five trans-Atlantic determinations have been made which serve to con- 
nect the longitudes of the United States with Greenwich and Paris, and 
more than 200 stations are included in the net which covers this country. 
Finally, through a trans-Pacific determination made by the Survey, 
supplemented by a similar one made by Canada, the last link in the 
telegraphic longitude circuit of the globe was completed, and thus nearly 
all of the longitude observations made in the world are united into one 
great single system, accurately correlated through this circuit. 

TRANSIT MICROMETER 

Among improvements made by the Survey to the instrumental equip- 
ment used in field astronomic work another of recent introduction 
deserves mention. This is the transit micrometer used in determination 
of time by stars at meridian passage. Although the transit micrometer 
had been in use at fixed observatories, it was not until the investigations 
made at the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1904 that its adaptability to 
portable transits was thoroughly proved. The many tests it has had in 
actual field work have shown for it many features of excellence. With 
its use the relative personal equation between two observers is so small 
as to be masked by the accidental errors of observation and is certainly 
not more than one-tenth as large as the average, using the key. No 
interchange of observers is necessary, and the time of the determination 
of a difference of longitude is about one-half the time taken by the older 
method. 

FIGURE OF THE EARTH 

The very important problem of determining the shape and size of the 
earth is probably the climax, from the scientific point of view, in the 
geodetic work of the Survey. 

Reference has already been made to the use of the arcs of triangulation 
in determining the figure of the earth. When many arcs, both merid- 
ional and latitudinal, are all joined together on the same trigonometric 
and astronomic basis, the area method, developed in the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey since about 1901, is without doubt far superior to the 
arc method. In it are all of the features of the arc method, to which 
many important new features are added. Using the great system of 
triangulation in the United States to furnish the area factor and the many 



Centennial Celebration 89 

astronomical measures connected with the system to furnish the curva- 
ture factors, a value for the figure of the earth was derived which is of a 
very high degree of accuracy. The investigations and results obtained 
in this work are noteworthy contributions to geodesy. Some of the 
prominent features of this investigation are shown in the wide area 
treated, the large number of astronomic observations involved, and the 
unusual methods of computation used. Topographic irregularities within 
4,000 kilometers of each astronomic station were considered, and account 
was taken of possible distribution of density beneath the surface of the 
earth. These features, together with the actual results obtained, make 
this a monumental work. 

By a study of the station errors, or deflections in the verticals, which 
were developed when the astronomical and geodetic determinations were 
compared, evidence was brought forth which established the fact that 
the condition of isostasy exists in the earth, a fact which is of interest 
and value to geodesy and geology. 

These studies of the figure of the earth and isostasy have attracted the 
attention of the scientific world. Doctor Woodward, the distinguished 
geodesist, is authority for the statement that the work done by the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey on isostasy is the greatest contribution to geodesy 
since the time of Gauss and Bessel. 

GRAVITY MEASURES 

Another method of attacking this important problem of the earth's 
shape and size is by the use of the pendulum in the determination of 
gravity. The contributions of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to this 
field of geodesy are given in the results of more than 30 foreign stations 
and of 219 stations in the United States. 

Happily the gravity conference held in 1882 indorsed the plan of using 
the invariable pendulum and of employing the differential method of 
carrying on gravity work, and the Survey's present excellent equipment 
and methods are the direct results. In its present type of apparatus, 
known as the Mendenhall pendulums, the Survey has a form which for 
compactness, portability, precision, and ease of operation ranks well 
among the best in this field of endeavor. 

Two features in recent gravity work are worthy of note. One is the 
application of the interferometer to the measurement of the flexure of 
the pendulum support, thus giving a direct measurement of this small 
quantity in terms of a wave length of light. It is believed that the result- 
ing corrections to the period of the pendulum are more accurate than those 
by the older static method where the corrections were derived under 
exaggerated conditions. The interferometer has been in use for about 
eight years as a field instrument, and determinations of the flexure have 
been made at about 140 gravity stations, through a very wide range of 
conditions in piers and external vibrations. 



90 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

The second feature worthy of note in recent gravity work is the 
deriving of the rate of the chronometers from time signals at noon, sent 
from the Naval Observatory over the lines of the Western Union and 
Postal Telegraph companies, a distinct advantage over the older method. 
By it the local time observations are dispensed with, the time of occupa- 
tion of a station is decreased, and the labor of preparing the station greatly 
lessened, all of which contribute to a lowering of the cost per station occu- 
pied. In connection with this it is interesting to note that Assistant 
Schott in 1882 made the statement that "time furnished telegraphically 
by an observatory whose clock is protected from changes of tempera- 
ture and pressure will be preferable to any local determination at a field 
station." 

FIELD AXD OFFICE FORCE 

Little has been said of the men who have composed and do now com- 
pose the field and office force of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. What 
the Survey is and accomplishes is due to these men, and to the spirit 
which influences them. To them must be given the credit for much that 
the Survey has contributed to geodesy. It would be difficult to find a 
body of men of greater enthusiasm for, or a higher scientific attitude 
toward, their work. They have a careful devotion to duty and an interest 
in the success of the Survey and its work, a fact which has developed a 
corps of workers of unrivaled excellence. 

They have ever been most alert to adapt new discoveries, made in the 
various fields of science, to the needs of the Survey, and to plan new and 
improved instruments; while to the theoretical work of geodesy they 
have added much by critical discussion and extensive study of results. 

Workers must have tools, and this fine body of skilled observers would 
be seriously handicapped in their work if suitable equipment were not 
furnished them. The Survey is particularly fortunate in having a body 
of skilled artisans in the instrument division, under the supervision of a 
most highly efficient officer. In the division there have been designed or 
built nearly all of the instruments of precision which have helped so mate- 
rially to place the Coast and Geodetic Survey in its present high position. 

Of the relation of the geodetic work of the Survey to that of the world, 
as shown by its share in the operations of the International Geodetic 
Conference, only slight reference is here made, for this subject is dealt 
with in an address by former Superintendent O. H. Tittmann, who is 
much more capable of presenting this subject. 

In the foregoing the endeavor has been made to give some idea of the 
contributions which the Coast and Geodetic Survey has made to geodesy. 
Of necessity much has been omitted, but what has been given will bear 
witness that the world's geodesy has been greatly enriched by the work 
of the Survey. 

A test of the greatness of the geodetic work of the Survey may be had 
in a review of the comments made by prominent men in other organiza- 



Centennial Celebration 91 

tions and countries, by men who are well qualified to judge. They all 
accord to the geodetic work of the Survey a very high place in the geodesy 
of the world. One comment only will be here given as a fitting close to 
this brief review of the contributions made by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey to geodesy. 

Commandant Perrier, the French geodesist, in speaking of the work of 
the Survey says: 

There is no example in the history of geodesy of a comparable collection of measure- 
ments, made with so much determination, such rapidity, and such powerful means of 
action, and guided by such an exact comprehension of the end to be attained. 

Mr. Jones: I am sure we are grateful to Professor Burger for the clear 
manner in which he has told us of the development and the value of 
geodesy. 

Our next address will be "The Civil War Record of the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, and What the Survey is Doing Toward 
Preparedness." When the Civil War began, over 50 years ago, the 
field officers of the Coast Survey offered their sendees, and I think the 
record they made speaks for itself. We are honored this afternoon in 
having with us one who has served with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
having been detailed from the Navy Department, and one who has a 
long and honorable career with that department. I take pleasure in 
introducing to you Admiral Richard Wainwright. 

THE CIVIL WAR RECORD OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY, AND WHAT THE SURVEY IS DOING TOWARD PREPARED- 
NESS 

Rear Admiral Wainwright: My acquaintance with the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey for over 60 years is my warrant for attempt- 
ing to give the record of the field force of the Survey during the Civil War. 

My earliest memories of boyhood are connected with the Coast Survey 
office, when Professor Bache was Superintendent ; and I knew the old office 
building thoroughly, from the weights and measures in the basement to 
the computers' rooms in the attic. I have many times during the war 
watched our troops on the farther bank of the Potomac, through a 
telescope, from the back windows of the old building. I have lived in 
primary triangulation camps and called out the heliotropers when time 
to use the bull theodolite, watched the assistants swing the needles, and 
followed the plane table. During this time I have listened to many talks 
about the deeds of the field force of the Survey and have met many of the 
assistants who served in the Army or the Navy during the Civil War. 
Their names would sound familiarly to the old cave dwellers of this city. 

The Superintendent, being a graduate of West Point, was frequentlv 
consulted by the President and his war Secretaries. He was prominent 
in the work of the Sanitary Commission and assisted the authorities in 
the prosecution of the war, to the best of his powers, both with advice 



92 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

and with personal effort. Members of the field force were early volunteers 
of their services to the country, and their assistance was eagerly sought 
by generals in the field and admirals afloat. 

At the outbreak of the war both the Army and the Navy were furnished 
with a vast amount of information from the Coast Survey. The material 
in the office was rapidly put in the shape of hydrographic notes, the 
unpublished maps and charts were printed and with the memoirs of the 
coast were placed in the hands of the departments. The officers of the 
Survey were in frequent consultation with officers of the Army and the 
Navy in regard to operations along the coast ; and in nearly ail naval and 
military movements they aided by making reconnoissances and sound- 
ings, placing buoys, and piloting in interior waters. Detailed surveys 
were requested and made in the regions traversed by the Army of the 
Potomac and at other points that were included in the operations of the 
war. 

The following extracts are from an article by Richard Meade Bache 
and serve to give some idea of the duty performed by the field force of 
the Coast Survey. As there were assistants attached to headquarters in 
nearly every active operation, it is only possible to give a few of the most 
important notices. Several served throughout the war with the same 
commanders, many lose to high places in their confidence, and all were at 
different times commended for their gallant services. 

After the attack on Port Royal, Commodore du Pont reported: "By 
the skill of Commodore Davis, the fleet captain, and Mr. Boutelle, the 
able assistant of the Coast Survey in charge of the steamer Vixen, the 
channel was immediately sounded out and buoyed." And General Sher- 
man reports: "It is my duty to report the valuable services of Mr. 
Boutelle, assistant in the Coast Survey, in assisting me with his accurate 
and extensive knowledge of this country." 

In the year 1862, 32 Coast Survey officers rendered service in mili- 
tary opeiations. Subassistant Dorr narrowly escaped being killed be- 
fore Yorktown. His instrument was shivered and a picket near by was 
killed. Messrs. Bradford and Boyd while surveying on James Island, 
South Carolina, made prisoners of an attacking party of the enemy. 
Subassistant Oltmanns was dangerously wounded while on a reconnois- 
sance up Pearl River. During this year Major Palmer died of a disease 
contracted during the peninsular campaign. 

After the bombardment of Forts Philip and Jackson, below New 
Orleans, Admiral Porter reported: "The results of our mortar practice 
here have exceeded anything I ever dreamed of; and for my success I 
am mainly indebted to the accuracy of the positions marked down 
under Mr. Gerdes' direction, by Mr. Harris and Mr. Oltmanns. They made 
a minute and complete survey from the 'jump' to the forts, most of the 
time exposed to fire from shot and shell and from sharpshooters from the 
bushes." 



Centennial Celebration 93 

In 1863 Admiral du Pont wrote to Assistant Boutelle, commanding 
the Bibb: "Your examination of the channels and water on the Charleston 
bar seems to have been conducted with great skill and boldness, and I 
beg you to receive my thanks and commendation for the same and for 
the important information obtained." 

At this time Mr. Robert Piatt, the executive officer of the Bibb was 
detailed to pilot the Weehawken and was temporarily disabled when 
a bolt broke under the concussion of a heavy shot from one of the Con- 
federate batteries. 

After the first attack on Fort Fisher, Admiral Porter reports: "I 
inclose herewith the report of Commander Rhind, with the names of 
the gallant fellows who volunteered for this desperate sen-ice. Allow 
me to mention the name of Mr. Bradford, of the Coast Survey, who went 
in and sounded the place where the Louisiana was to go in, and has 
always patiently performed every duty he has been called on to carry 
out." 

These few extracts, from many reports, serve to show that the field 
force of the Coast Survey gave valuable military sendee to their country 
during the Civil War. Aftenvards they returned to their regular duties 
without any of the rewards of rank or pay or pension for themselves or 
their families, so freely distributed at this time for military sendees; 
but they had the satisfaction that is the reward of all earnest workers of 
knowing that — 

Duty done 
Is honor won. 

Many of the naval officers who served on the Coast Survey prior to 
the Civil War distinguished themselves in that conflict. Some time 
after the war naval officers were again detailed to duty with the Survey. 
At this time the fortunes of the Navy were at a low ebb; our ships old 
and useful only for peace purposes. As a war instrument the Navy 
was a farce. The block in promotion kept officers in the lower grades 
for the best portion of their lives, and they only assumed the responsi- 
bilities of command when on the eve of retirement. Work on the 
Coast Sun r ey had much to do with keeping alive the spirit of the officers 
of the Navy at this time. They had the opportunity of learning to com- 
mand and to exercise their own initiative. They had to learn to conquer 
difficulties and to make things do, for in no other Government sendee is 
more work required and smaller means provided for its accomplishment 
than in the Coast and Geodetic Sun-ey. I am glad to see that the 
present Superintendent is gradually forcing the Coast and Geodetic Sun-ey 
from its dignified scientific obscurity into the light of the public eye. 
The large scientific associations have always supported the Sun-ey, but 
they can only act effectively when some important subject is placed 
before them. When money is needed for the many daily requirements 



94 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

of the work Congress will not appropriate liberally unless the public is 
interested. 

The constant work of keeping our numerous harbors and channels 
correctly charted, the aids to navigation located, and the tides com- 
puted is necessary for the commerce of peace as well as in preparation 
for war. The increased draft of ships now in use has necessitated the 
employment of the drag to discover hidden rocks and to insure the safety 
of both merchant vessels and battleships; and there are points where a 
close survey is of value to the Navy, although of little use to commerce. 

In time of war the field force of the Coast Survey will be needed, as it 
was during the Civil War. The Army and Navy are both very short 
of officers. A trained topographer would always be of value on the 
staff of a general and the Chief of Staff or the engineer would find much 
useful employment for him. In modern war, with long-range guns, the 
general must visualize his work by close reference to the map, and a 
topographer from the Coast Survey would find little training necessary 
to keep the new features and movements of the troops plotted ready for 
the commanding general. With his draftsmen he could work in new 
details, enlarge maps when necessary, and in general take charge of the 
staff maps. He could aid the engineer in running trench lines, laying lines 
for defense, and plotting his own and the enemy's batteries. In fact, 
perform all the topographical duties and some of the military duties of 
an Army Engineer. 

The Navy is not so apt to need advance surveys and piloting now as 
during the Civil War, because of finished surveys and completed charts, 
but there is no question but that a skilled hydrographer would prove a 
most valuable addition to the staff of an admiral. His power of quickly 
locating his position on a chart would be of assistance in bombardments, 
blockading, mining, and countermining. In fleet actions the admiral 
must have an aid to keep his fleet and that of the enemy plotted on a 
proper scale chart. Especially at extreme ranges, changes in bearing 
and distance and even in formation can be more readily detected in this 
way than by the eye, and important time may be gained by this means 
when trying to outmaneuver the enemy. A hydrographer accustomed 
to work on a boat sheet would soon become a rapid worker on such a 
plotting sheet. He would only find that the methods necessarily used 
were less accurate than those to which he has been accustomed. 

There is no doubt but that the General Staff of the Army or the Bureau 
of Operations of the Navy could find many other useful duties in time of 
war for the members of the field force of the Survey. To-day prepared- 
ness is in the mouth of every man. Its adoption by the President has 
made it a national issue, and in the eyes of military men it has long been 
a national necessity. Would it not work for efficiency and preparedness 
if at the present time the positions and duties were determined and the 
men to fill them selected? Much lost motion will be prevented and 



Centennial Celebration 95 

better cooperation insured if some arrangement is made by the three 
services. 

There have been many skilled scientific men attached to the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey. Some well known to their country- 
men and others only known to the few interested in their specialty. On 
the practical side the work has been well done and with economy. The 
Survey charts stand at the head of all others for accuracy, execution, 
and general usefulness. The field force of the Survey has always given 
loyal service to the country. If war should come, they and their dis- 
tinguished Superintendent will be prompt to offer their services. They 
will again be found ready. May they then find the Nation more grateful 
than did those who were detailed from the Survey during the Civil "War. 

Mr. Joxes: I know we are very thankful to Admiral Wainwright for 
telling us so clearly of the deeds of valor of those who were associated 
so many years ago with the Coast Survey. He can rest assured that if 
this country should be involved in another war the men of the Survey 
will again be found ready to do their part for their country. 

Our next address will be on "The International Work of the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey." The Survey has not neglected 
the international work of the United States while attempting to do its 
purelv national work. In fact, our work in its entirety might be con- 
sidered as international. 

We are very fortunate in having with us to-day a former Superintendent 
who has been interested in international work for many years. It gives 
me pleasure to introduce to you Doctor Otto Hilgard Tittmann. 

THE INTERNATIONAL WORK OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND 
GEODETIC SURVEY 

Doctor Tittmann: It may justly give satisfaction to the members of 
the Survey that the results of its work are nearly all international in 
their scope. 

The hydrographic and tidal surveys are obviously for the benefit 
of all mankind, because they safeguard the commercial intercourse of 
nations. Its geodetic work contributes to the knowledge of the earth"s 
dimensions and constitution. The world's knowledge of terrestrial 
magnetism would be incomplete without the record of the observation 
of magnetic phenomena as they occur in the vast territory inhabited 
by us, and so with data relating to the tides. Thus, in the prosecution 
of its tasks, the Survey adds to our knowledge of the planet which we 
inhabit and thereby furthers the ultimate aim of all civilization, the 
intellectual development of mankind. 

The theme assigned to me, however, is the international work of the 
Survey in a more restricted sense and refers to its labors in direct coop- 
eration with other countries. With this interpretation the international 
boundary surveys are its most striking accomplishment. 



96 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

BOUNDARY OF ALASKA 

When Russia as a manifestation of her good will transferred to us 
Russian America for a purely nominal sum, the Coast Survey put its 
expert cartographers at work to compile an official map of the territory 
in question for the use of the Department of State. It bears the date 
1867 and is entitled "Northwestern America, showing the Territory 
ceded by Russia to the United States," but it bears the name Alaska. 
This name was suggested by Charles Sumner in his great speech deliv- 
ered on April 19, 1867, on the significance of the purchase. 

In a personal letter to Mr. Hilgard, under whose direction the map 
was compiled, Mr. Sumner wrote: "I like the looks of the map. The 
addition of soundings is important." He made no comment in the letter 
on the representation of the boundary. The reason for this is probably 
to be found in the opening sentence of his speech. "In endeavoring 
to fix its character [i. e., of the cession] I am glad to begin with what is 
clear and beyond question. I refer to the boundaries fixed by the 
treaty. Commencing at the parallel 54 40' north latitude so famous 
in our history, the fine ascends Portland Channel to the mountains, 
which it follows on their summits to the point of intersection with the 
141 ° west longitude, which line it ascends to the frozen ocean, or, if you 
please, to the North Pole." 

It may be remarked parenthetically that an intrepid American explorer, 
Peary, did visit the North Pole end of the fine while he was formally 
attached to the Survey for the purpose of observing Arctic tides and that 
before he entered the Navy he had also served in the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey. 

The following is one more quotation from Sumner's speech referring 
to the Survey: "An object of immediate practical interest will be the 
survey of the extended and indented coast by our own officers, bringing 
it all within the domain of science and assuring to navigation much- 
needed assistance, while the Republic is honored by a continuation of 
national charts, where execution vies with science and the art of engrav- 
ing is the beautiful handmaid." 

The references to the early connection of the Survey with Alaska show 
that in the delimitation of the international boundary it was natural that 
the United States should be represented by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey all the more because its trigonometric and topographic surveys 
of the shores of southeast Alaska were essential for the coordination 
of the work farther inland. The local disputes which arose over the 
boundary, which according to Senator Sumner was "clear and beyond 
question," reached the first stage of settlement by a convention between 
the United States and Great Britain, which was signed July 22, 1892, 
and by a supplementary one of February, 1894, which provided for the 
mapping of the territory contiguous to the boundary. 



Centennial Celebration 97 

The then Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Doctor 
T. C. Mendenhall, was appointed commissioner to represent the United 
States in a joint survey and Doctor W. F. King to represent the British 
Government. Doctor Mendenhall was later succeeded by Superintendent 
W. W. Duffield. Owing to the large area to be mapped and the brief time 
allotted to the work by the convention the commissioners decided on a 
joint survey with separate surveying parties, the parties of one country 
being accompanied by surveyor attaches of the other. To the officers 
of the Coast and Geodetic Survey was assigned the survey of the water 
courses and certain astronomical determinations; to the Canadian 
parties, the mapping of the intervening topography. For this they 
were especially fitted by their knowledge of and experience with photo- 
topographic methods without which the mapping could not have been 
accomplished in the brief time allotted to the work comprised between 
November, 1892, and December 31, 1895. The results of these surveys 
and of some supplementary ones made a little later to supply needed 
information were embodied in a series of 24 contoured topographical 
maps by the British commission and a series of 12 maps by the United 
States commission, both series being on a scale of 1:160,000. These 
maps were submitted to the Alaska boundary tribunal which convened 
at London in conformity with the treaty of January 24, 1903. Prior 
to the meeting of the tribunal, however, the discovery of gold and the 
rush of adventurers to the Klondike region had given rise to contentions 
in the region. at the head of Lynn Canal, disputes which threatened 
serious complications. 

To prevent these, a "modus vivendi" was agreed upon by the two 
Governments concerned, and Mr. Tittmann, of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, and Doctor King, of Canada, were appointed commissioners to 
mark a provisional boundary along the Tlehini River and across the 
Chilkoot and White Passes. They promptly performed the duties as- 
signed to them in the summer of 1900 and necessary temporary monu- 
ments were placed at important points along the line agreed upon. 

The services of the Survey were further invoked by the Department 
of State in the preparation of maps and for consultation with the counsel 
on the staff of General Foster, the United States agent before the tribu- 
nal. Two officers of the Survey accompanied him to London to serve as 
experts during the proceedings. 

After the decision of the tribunal was rendered the two Governments 
promptly appointed commissioners to carry out the findings. The Super- 
intendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Mr. Tittmann, and the 
chief astronomer of Canada, Doctor King, were the men chosen to carry 
out the arduous task of delimiting the boundary of southeast Alaska, 
the region extending from the southern end of Prince of Wales Island 
44282°— 16 7 



98 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

to the one hundred and forty-first meridian, to which the decision of the 
tribunal of London appertained. 

In the spring of 1904 the two commissioners personally erected the 
first monument on the boundary at the head of Portland Canal. 

In 1906 another treaty relating to the demarcation of the one hundred 
and forty-first meridian resulted in the naming of the same commis- 
sioners to carry out its provisions. Time forbids an account of the 
field operations, which resulted in the successful delimitation and map- 
ping of a boundary about 1,800 miles long. The field operations were 
brought to a successful conclusion in 191 3 by the bold and energetic 
American and Canadian engineers, under the direction of the two com- 
missioners first appointed. 

NORTHERN BOUNDARY 

As far back as 1857 officers of the Coast Survey were directed to assist 
an international commission in mapping the treaty boundary through the 
Gulf of Georgia toward the Strait of Juan de Fuca. From time to time the 
Survey was called upon to represent the Government in the re-marking 
of short sections of the boundary where the monuments had disappeared, 
or where it never had been marked. Thus, in 1892, Doctor Mendenhall, 
the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, was appointed 
commissioner on the part of the United States to mark the boundary in 
Passamaquoddy Bay, together with Doctor King, the British commis- 
sioner, but no joint report was made by the commissioners, owing to a 
disagreement in regard to the line through Lubec Narrows. A part of 
the line marked by them was adopted by the treaty of 1908. 

In August, 1902, Superintendent Tittmann was designated as repre- 
sentative of the United States to re-mark the boundary between Lake 
Superior and the Pacific Ocean, and after further negotiations the Direc- 
tor of the Geological Survey and the Superintendent of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey were, in June, 1903, designated as United States com- 
missioners to remonument, in cooperation with the British commissioner, 
Doctor King, the boundary between the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of 
Georgia. In 1905 the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
was directed to cooperate with the British commissioner in making a 
temporary relocation of a small section of the boundary near Portal, North 
Dakota. 

While the re-marking of the boundary was progressing during the years 
following 1903, it was done under informal agreements between the two 
countries. The great work was, however, put on a more formal and 
definite basis by the treaty of 1908, under which the Superintendent of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey was appointed sole commissioner on the 
part of the United States for the demarcation of the whole line from 
Grand Manan Channel to the Pacific Ocean, with the exception of the 
water boundary through the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. 



Centennial Celebration 99 

The Superintendent was succeeded as commissioner in 191 5 by E. C. 
Barnard, for many years associated with the boundary survey as one of 
the principal engineers. 

In the brief time allotted, this chronological statement is necessarily 
lacking in that interest which attaches to the history of our boundaries. 
For instance, there is an episode bearing on our boundary disputes which 
in our legal records bears the tantalizing title of "An open boat and cargo 
and three puncheons of rum," and I should like to satisfy your curiosity 
in regard to it. In regard to our northern boundary as well as the Alaskan 
one it should be pointed out that the trigonometric and topographic sur- 
veys coincidently made with the monumenting are as important and 
valuable as the delimitation itself. 

UNITED STATES AND MEXICAN BOUNDARY 

Between the years 1891 and 1895 this Government and that of Mexico 
remonumented their common boundary line. The Coast and Geodetic 
Survey was represented by A. T. Mosman, who was one of the three com- 
missioners appointed to perform the work, and the Survey cooperated 
further by making determinations of geographical positions for the inter- 
national commission. 

NORTH AMERICAN DATUM 

In connection with the activities of the Survey on these two boundaries 
it should be mentioned that the geodetic surveys of Canada, Mexico, and 
the United States have informally agreed to compute their geographical 
positions on the same reference spheroid, and to use the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey datum. In consequence the designation of the reference 
datum has been changed to the "North American datum. " This impor- 
tant international agreement will tend greatly to simplify the geodetic 
computations in North America. Those in Europe are unfortunately not 
on a common datum. 

THE SURVEY AND THE INTERNATIONAL GEODETIC ASSOCIATION 

The International Geodetic Association is the outgrowth of a beginning 
made in 1862 by Prussia to unite the trigonometric surveys of the German 
States in a cooperative union for furthering the measurements of the 
earth. The father of the plan was General Baeyer, a coadjutor of the 
immortal Bessel. 

It was first called the Mittel Europaische Gradmessung, and later on, 
when other European countries signified their willingness to cooperate, 
its name was changed to Europaische Gradmessung. Still later on, it 
assumed the name of International Geodetic Association, when trans- 
maritime countries joined it. Among others the United States became 
a signatory power to the convention by the assent of Congress, which 
authorized the President to send delegates from the Coast and Geodetic 



ioo U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Survey to the meetings. While the United States did not become a 
party to the convention until 1889, the Coast and Geodetic Survey sent 
one of its officers as a delegate to the conference as early as 1878. 

It is not possible to describe its labors, but it may be said that its vivi- 
fying influence on the progress of geodesy has amply justified its existence. 
At the last meeting our Western Continent was represented by Argentina, 
Chile, Mexico, and the United States. When the association established 
a chain of small observatories around the globe very nearly on the parallel 
of Washington, the Superintendent of the Survey, as a member of the 
association, was given charge of two of them, one at Gaithersburg, near 
Washington, and one at Ukiah, California. The object was to obtain a 
continuous series of observations on the variation of latitude. Such 
observations were made without interruption at both stations for over 
17 years by American observers. 

Seven years ago, at the request of the Superintendent, a sum of money 
was allotted to him by the association for the purpose of constructing a 
photographic instrument designed by Doctor Ross, the astronomer in 
charge of the Gaithersburg station. Doctor Ross with rare zeal and inde- 
fatigable industry carried on for three years a series of observations with 
this instrument coincidently and in addition to the regular visual obser- 
vations, and the results are unrivaled in accuracy and of great interest. 

The gravity determination, made by Mr. Putnam, of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey, between Washington, Greenwich, and Potsdam were 
made possible by the association. These important observations are the 
connecting link between the pendulum observations made in the Eastern 
and those in the Western Hemisphere. 

Some years ago the plausible suggestion appeared in print that there 
might be a progressive displacement between the European and American 
Continents. This led to an agreement between the Prussian Geodetic 
Institute and the Coast and Geodetic Survey to make a trans-Atlantic 
cable determination between Potsdam and Washington with all possible 
refinement. The undertaking was in progress at the outbreak of the 
European war, but the cutting of the cable put a stop to the operations. 
It was possible, however, to compute a difference of longitude from the 
interrupted observations which verified the correctness of the old Coast 
and Geodetic Survey determinations and threw much doubt on the 
peripatetic habits of the continents. 

THE SURVEY AND THE INTERNATIONAL BUREAU OF WEIGHTS AND MEAS- 
URES 

Acting on a suggestion from the European Geodetic Association, the 
French Government invited this country to join other nations in the 
creation of an international bureau of weights and measures. 

In 1872 two delegates were appointed to represent the United States, 
J. E. Hilgard, of the Coast Survey, and Professor Joseph Henry, of the 



Centennial Celebration 101 

Smithsonian Institution. The latter, however, did not go abroad, this 
country being represented by Mr. Hilgard during the conference and 
scientific discussions which led to the successful establishment of the 
bureau and the construction of international standards of weight and 
length. 1 Copies of the standards were distributed to all signatory 
powers. Those intended for the United States were brought from 
France by officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

In 1900 the Survey undertook to cooperate in international magnetic 
work to be done in connection with Antarctic expeditions sent out by 
Germany and Great Britain. Since that time the Survey has frequently 
responded to calls for simultaneous magnetic observations and at all 
times is cooperating with the magnetic surveys of other nations. 

As this address is chiefly a recital of work done jointly with other 
nations and under formal agreements, much interesting scientific work 
of international scope can only be mentioned by title, as it were. 

I refer to the following : The chronometric longitude determinations in 
1849 and 1850 between the United States and Europe; the trans-Atlantic 
longitude determinations by means of the cable in 1866 and again in 
1870; the telegraphic longitude determinations between Greenwich, 
England, and Brest, France, in 1872; the Labrador eclipse expedition of 
i860 and the solar eclipse expedition to Spain in 1870; the part taken 
by an officer of the Survey in the naval eclipse expedition of 1 889 to the 
West Coast of Africa ; the transit of Venus expeditions of 1 874 and 1 882 
conducted by officers of the Survey; the gravity observations made in 
New Zealand, New South Wales, British India, and Japan by Mr. Smith, 
the officer in charge of the 1882 expedition, to which was attached 
Doctor Pritchett, later Superintendent of the Survey; and the work of 
Mr. Preston, of the Survey, who was attached to the transit of Venus 
party which went to the Caroline Islands in 1882 and who made gravity 
observations there and subsequently in the Hawaiian Islands. 

Doubtless there are omissions in this brief index of the Survey's inter- 
national work. It has not been possible to dwell upon the influence 
which it has exerted on kindred organizations of other lands, any one of 
which is usually occupied with but one of the many tasks of the Survey. 

May the next centennial of this great organization have so satisfying 
a retrospect as this one affords. 

Mr. Jones: We are thankful to Doctor Tittmann for showing us the 
great value of the part the Coast and Geodetic Survey has played in inter- 
national matters. 

Our next speaker has made astronomy of greater utility by using it for 
the enrichment of navigation. The endeavor has been made by him, 

1 The American delegate, Mr. Hilgard, was offered but declined the directorship of the Bureau. 



102 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

and with great success, to elevate navigation to the plane of an exact 
science and to popularize it, especially in New York City. Ocean tides 
and currents have been the subject of considerable study by him, and 
to the former he has contributed privately collected data. 

The next address will be "Ocean Tides, with Special Reference to the 
Work of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey." I take pleasure 
in introducing to you Doctor Charles Lane Poor, professor of celestial 
mechanics of Columbia University. 

OCEANIC TIDES, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE WORK OF THE 
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Doctor Poor: On the shores of the Mediterranean lived the people 
whose history, whose philosophy, form the bases of all modern knowl- 
edge. In this sea the tides are small and attracted but scant attention. 
Probably the earliest reference to the tides was Homer's description of a 
tidal whirlpool, as among the perils encountered by Ulysses: 

Under this, divine Charybdis sucks in black water. For thrice in the day she 
sends it out and thrice she sucks it in horribly. 

It was not, however, until Alexander pushed his conquests throughout 
Persia to the banks of the Indus, that the oceanic tides were recognized 
as serious and important phenomena to be studied and explained. A 
few years later, 325 B. C, Pytheas, who skirted the coast of Europe, 
from the Straits of Gibraltar to the British Isles, noted the variation of 
the tides with the varying phases of the moon, and began the difficult 
study of the tides and their causes. 

Thus early was the intimate connection between the tides and the 
moon recognized, but not until the time of Newton was the reason for 
this connection known. In the " Principia" he showed that the tides are 
direct and necessary consequences of the law of gravitation. The moon 
attracts each and every particle of matter in and around the earth, and 
the strength of this attraction varies inversely as the square of the 
particle's distance from the moon. A particle on the surface of the earth 
directly under the moon will be attracted more strongly than is the earth 
as a whole, for it is nearer to the moon than the average particle at the 
center. The moon tends to draw such a surface particle away from the 
earth, but this lifting force is very small compared with the whole at- 
traction of the earth, and the action of the moon simply lessens the 
weight of such surface body to a very small extent. This lifting force 
is not confined to particles directly under the moon, but appears to a 
greater or less degree upon every portion of the earth's surface. 

These forces are extremely small; the loss in weight of a body when 
the moon is in the zenith is only 1/8,400,000 part; that is, because of 
the existence of the moon, a 4,000-ton ocean steamer loses 1 pound of 
its weight when that body is directly overhead. When the moon is on 



Centennial Celebration 



103 




A 2, 500-ton stea 



loading at wharf on the Petitcodiac River, at the head of the Bay of 



Fundy at low tid 




A steamer at the same wharf loading at high tide 
FIG. 12.— HIGH AND LOW TIDES IN THE PETITCODIAC RIVER 



104 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 



the horizon such a steamer gains half a pound in weight. Again, in 
an ocean 3 miles deep the greatest variation in weight or pressure due 
to this attraction of the moon can never be greater than the weight of 
a layer of water 3/100 of an inch in thickness. 

The vertical or lifting force is too minute to produce any appreciable 
effect; but the waters of the ocean are mobile, and a very small force 
will cause a particle to move horizontally, whereas a large force is neces- 
sary to overcome gravity and to lift it directly upward. A light sum- 
mer's breeze, playing over the surface of a pond, will cause the water to 
ripple and form waves; particles will rise and fall, and yet the force of 
the breeze could not directly lift the weight of the water in the upper 
portions of the waves. The attraction of the moon causes both a vertical 




— M 



FIG. 13.— TIDE-GENERATING FORCES 

and a horizontal tide-generating force, and these two forces are of the 
same relative magnitude. The vertical portion is not large enough to lift 
the water against gravity, but the horizontal component, while no larger, 
is yet powerful enough to move the waters horizontally, and, like the 
summer breeze, to cause waves in the oceans. 

From the time of New T ton scientists have attempted to formulate a 
mathematical theory of the tides. They began by assuming a very 
simple case — that of a solid, rigid earth, surrounded by a shallow, fric- 
tionless ocean of uniform depth; but even this ideally simple problem 
presented many mathematical difficulties and it was long before it was 
completely solved. 

To pass from this ideal world to actuality, from a simple all-pervading 
ocean of uniform depth to oceans separated by continents, and varying 



Centennial Celebration 105 

in depth, defies the skill of the mathematician. Yet Xewton, Laplace, 
and a succession of brilliant scientists have all tried to do this, to pass 
from the simple to the complex. They consider the tides as a world 
phenomenon — as an ideally simple wave, modified, broken up, and de- 
layed by the continental barriers, by the varying depths of, the oceans. 
Sir George Darwin considers the great world tides as formed in the broad 
deep waters of the southern Pacific. From here the tidal wave spreads 
east and west, around Cape Horn and past Cape of Good Hope, and 
sweeps through the Atlantic at a rate depending solely upon the depth 
of the water. The wave is about 40 hours old when it reaches the eastern 
coast of the United States and nearly 60 when it arrives at London and 
ports on the Xorth Sea. "It is interesting to reflect that our [British] 
tides to-day depend even more on what occurred yesterday or the day 
before in the southern Pacific and Indian Oceans than on the direct 
action of the moon to-day." 

This simple world idea of the tides was evolved and elaborated from 
observations of the tides of Europe. In the days of Laplace there was 
little knowledge of the tides in other parts of the world, and it was 
naturally thought that the European tides were fairly representative. 
The dynamical or world wave theory fitted and explained the simple 
tides, and thus became the basis of all tidal work and theories. Later 
the tides in the Pacific and Indian Oceans were studied and were found 
to differ greatly from those of Europe; in fact, the tides of the Xorth 
Atlantic are exceptional in their simplicity. Vet, as each new compli- 
cation was found it was explained away, as a modification of the general 
grand wave, due to some local condition. The theory that the tides 
are a world phenomenon has the support of the world's greatest mathe- 
maticians and all the prestige their names can lend. 

Certain investigation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey would indicate 
that this theory may not be the correct explanation of the oceanic tides. 
During the century of its existence this body of skillful observers and 
able investigators has collected and discussed an enormous amount of 
tidal data in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. As these obser- 
vations were collected and brought together discrepancies were found. 
The tides of one port could not be fitted into and made to harmonize with 
the tides of another place. A few such discrepancies would be explained 
as modifications of the general tidal wave, but as observations were in- 
creased in number discrepancies multiplied, and to fit all conditions the 
general tidal wave would have to writhe and squirm and change its form 
and character from place to place until it lost all semblance of a single 
uniform progressive wave. Gradually there has been evolved the feeling 
that the tides are not a world phenomenon but are strictly local in char- 
acter and in being; that the tides of the Atlantic Ocean are due to oscil- 
lations in the waters of the Atlantic independent of what has or may 
happen in the waters of the Pacific. 



106 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

This idea of the tides as purely local phenomena, as opposed to the 
theory of a grand earth-wide wave, was perhaps first glimpsed by William 
Ferrel. In his tidal researches, published by the Survey in 1874, he 
attributed the great size of the North Atlantic tides to the fact that a 
canal running from Europe to America and closed at both ends would 
have a free period of oscillation approximately equal to a half lunar day. 
The later researches of Doctor R. A. Harris elaborated this idea and devel- 
oped a thoroughly consistent theory of the tides as local phenomena. 

Each body of water, large or small, has its own period of vibration, 
the length of time required for a long free wave to travel forward and 
back across its surface. Take a rectangular shallow tray of water, for 
example. If one end be suddenly raised and immediately lowered again, 
a long wave will be started, which runs to the other end of the tray, is 
reflected, and returns to the starting point. The wave again sets out 
and continues to run back and forth, growing smaller and smaller until 
the water gradually returns to rest. The length of time taken by the 
wave in one complete journey to and fro across the tray is the vibration 
period, and this period depends upon the length of the tray and the depth 
of water. In a lake 100 miles long and 200 feet in depth the wave, travel- 
ing about 55 miles per hour, would require something less than four hours 
to complete its journey. The North Atlantic Ocean is some 3,000 miles 
wide, yet it is of such an average depth that a free wave travels at a rate 
of some 500 miles per hour. The wave requires, therefore, 12 hours to 
pass from Europe to America and return, and thus its complete period of 
oscillation is some 12 hours. 

Now, the tide-generating forces disturb the water in a lake or the ocean 
and give rise to a wave, and exactly 12 hours later this disturbance is 
repeated. The waters are thus subjected to regular periodic shocks, and 
the intervals between these shocks are independent of the size or shape 
of lake or ocean; the intervals depend solely upon the motion of the moon. 
In a narrow lake or inclosed sea near the equator the natural period of 
which is much less than 1 2 hours, waters will rock back and forth in unison 
with the force, the surface of the water being always normal to the direc- 
tion which a plumb line takes under the action of the disturbing forces. 
In a long lake or canal — one so long that it would require over 1 2 hours 
for a free wave to travel back and forth across the surface — the water will 
oscillate with the period of the force, but the oscillation will be inverted. 
The oscillations will be of the same character as in the small lake, but 
the time of high and low water will be changed. The surface of the water 
is not normal to the plumb line. If the canal were exactly one half -wave 
length long, it would be high water at the eastern end when the moon 
crossed the meridian of the middle point of the canal and high water at 
the western end six lunar hours later. 

If the natural or free period of oscillation of the lake or ocean be exactly 
equal to the period of the tidal forces, what then? The oscillations of 



Centennial Celebration 107 

the water would grow greater and greater without limit ; each succeeding 
tide would be higher and higher, until the waters would so overflow the 
banks of the lake or ocean as to alter the character of the oscillation; that 
is, long before this disruption could take place the waves would be so 
large that forces and conditions hitherto neglected would be brought into 
play and modify the simple results. When the oscillation becomes large 
the resistance offered to the motion of the water particles would even- 
tually become sufficient for preventing the tidal forces from further aug- 
menting the oscillation. While thus the tides can never really become 
infinite, even if at the start the two periods are exactly identical, yet they 
may become very large. 

When the period of free oscillation of an ocean is very nearly equal to 
the period of the tidal forces, the tides may, for this reason, be consider- 
ably larger than they would if the two periods were radically different. 
The North Atlantic, from Europe to America, has a period of about 12 
lunar hours for a complete oscillation, and to this has been ascribed the 
abnormally large semidiurnal tides. 

So far we have discussed simple oscillations, or standing waves, in 
comparatively narrow canal-like bodies of water; but the lakes and 
oceans of the earth are irregular in shape and of varying depth. They 
are all comparatively wide, and this very width introduces complica- 
tions. The vibrations of a wide lake are extremely complex as compared 
to those of a narrow canal of the same length. In fact, a complete 
mathematical solution of the character of the vibrations of such a lake 
is impossible; but the general type of the oscillations is known. Under 
the action of the tide-generating forces the surface of a circular lake, for 
example, rocks about a "no-tide" point. Imagine a circular disk of 
cardboard, such as a dry compass card, resting on a central pivot and so 
weighted at one point that the surface is not quite horizontal. The 
highest point of the circumference will represent high water and the 
lowest point low water. Xow turn the card slowly around the pivot 
and the line of the high and low waters will successively take up all 
directions, the high point always being directly opposite the low point. 
When the high point is to the eastward of the pivot the low point will be 
to the westward; when the high is to the north the low will be to the 
south. Further, the height above the pivot of any intermediate point 
on the line of high and low water will depend upon the distance of that 
point from the center of the card. A point halfway out toward the 
circumference will be only one-half as high above the pivot as the point 
on the edge. Thus, in this imaginary illustration, it would be high 
water at all points due east of the pivotal, or no-tide, point at the same 
instant, but the height of the tide would increase with the distance from 
the central point. Xow, a line, which connects all these points at which 
it is high water at the same instant, is called a "cotidal " line, and on our 
imaginary card all the cotidal lines would be straight and would radiate 



108 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

from the pivot, like the spokes of a wheel; the lines of equal rise and fall 
would be concentric circles or ellipses with the pivot as common center. 

In the case of a deep lake the tidal oscillations of its surface are very 
similar to the rotating card. As the size of the lake increases, the 
cotidal lines still radiate from a no-tide point, but they become slightly 
curved; the lines of equal rise and fall become somewhat more com- 
plicated in form than the system of concentric ellipses which constitute 
such lines for the small body. 

If the oscillations of a simple deep lake are so complicated, it is easy 
to see that those of an irregular-shaped ocean must be extremely com- 
plex. In general, however, when such an irregularly shaped surface is 
set into periodic vibration, it breaks up into component parts, each part 
vibrating by itself. Most of the ocean's surface is covered by one or 
more such systems. The number of the systems and the location of the 
nodal lines or points will vary with the period of the vibration, or with 
the length of the wave. When the wave length is short as compared to 
the dimensions of the vibrating surface, then the area can oscillate in an 
infinite number of ways, but when the length of the wave is of the same 
order of size as the dimensions of the surface, then the division is simple 
and the nodal lines few. 

Now, the tidal forces have a period of 12 hours and the wave length of 
the corresponding vibration in the deep waters of the ocean is from 
5,000 to 6,000 miles. The areas in the ocean which vibrate in this 
period will, therefore, be comparatively few, and it is not impossible to 
locate them approximately. In these areas the vibrations will be large 
and the resulting tides considerable, for the free period of each approxi- 
mates closely to the period of the forces. The tides in each area are 
caused by the oscillations of the waters in that area; they are to a great 
extent independent of the tides in an adjacent area. The tides are local 
phenomena. 

The character of the oscillation and of the tide in each area is largely 
determined by its lateral boundaries. Gradually shoaling water or con- 
verging shore lines will increase the height of the tide, and such difference in 
the shore lines determine whether the eastern or the western end of the 
area shall have the greater rise or fall. It may so happen that the tide 
at one point is considerably higher than at others, and in such cases the 
wave there generated may be propagated as a free wave and travel across 
adjacent areas, modifying to a greater or less extent the individual tide 
of that area. 

The North Atlantic forms a rough trapezoidal basin, the West Indies 
and the northeastern coast of South America forming one side; a line 
running from Cape St. Roque to Cape Finisterre in Spain and touching 
the western coast of Africa on its way forms a second side; the third side 
extending from Spain to Ireland, thence to Iceland and Greenland; the 
fourth side being formed bv the coast of America from Greenland to 



Centennial Celebration 



109 



Florida. This area breaks up into three vibrating zones, the first of 
which takes in all that portion of the ocean which lies north and east of a 
line joining Newfoundland with the Cape Verde Islands and the Coast 
of Africa. This area is about one-half wave length long and oscillates 




FIG. H.— THE OSCILLATORY AREAS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC 



The Roman numbers (XII) Indicate the tin 
mean rise 



is of high water; the Arabic 
nd fall of the tide 



-ibers (5) show the 



about a nodal line extending from the banks of Newfoundland to the 
northwestern coast of Ireland; the high tides at Greenland will be six 
hours later than the tides on the coast of Africa or Spain. The second 
area joins this first at right angles off the coast of Africa and forms the 



no U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

shorter arm of a broken cross, the coast of South America being the 
southern boundary. This vibrates in unison with the first area, about 
a nodal line extending northwesterly through the middle of the ocean. 
It will be high water, therefore, on the coast of Brazil at the same time 
as at Greenland, and at the juncture of the two areas, off the coast of 
Morocco and Portugal the range of tides should be considerable. This 
great range of tides creates a free wave which travels northward along 
the shores of France and Great Britain, modifying and increasing the 
pure oscillating tides of those regions. 

The third area extends from the United States to the Cape Verde 
Islands and overlaps the second. This area oscillates about a nodal line 
extending in a northeasterly direction from the West Indies to the 
middle of the Atlantic near the Azores. It will be high tide along the 
American coast at the moment of low water at the eastern boundary of 
the area, and from the coast of Newfoundland to the shores of Florida 
high and low waters will occur at the same absolute moments. 

The tides in the area covered by the two oscillating systems will be 
confused and the times of high and low water will be intermediate between 
the times due to each system by itself. 

Now this explanation of the Atlantic tides as being due to vibrating 
motions of more or less definite areas agrees fairly well with the actual 
conditions. Tidal observations are confined to the coasts and to out- 
lying islands; no data are at hand for drawing the cotidal lines or for 
determining the range of the tide in the middle of the ocean. The high 
tides on the coast of Brazil occur at the same time as do the tides on the 
coast of Greenland and Iceland, while the tides of Morocco and Spain 
are six hours earlier. Again, there is an abrupt change in the cotidal 
lines off the Banks of Newfoundland, and there is some evidence of the 
existence of the nodal line off the coast of Ireland. In the southern area, 
on account of the overlapping systems and of the adjacent area of the 
South Atlantic system, the nodal line is almost completely obliterated. 

Fortunately there is a way in which this new tidal theory can be 
tested. If the world wave theory of the older mathematicians be true, 
and the tides originate in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, then "springs" 
should occur in those oceans some 40 hours earlier than in the northern 
Atlantic. The interval between the conjunction of the sun and moon 
and the occurrence of springs at any point should show a regular pro- 
gression from the Pacific around Cape Horn and up the Atlantic sea- 
board. Yet no such progression is found. Spring tide occurs along our 
coast from Halifax to Old Point Comfort almost simultaneously with 
springs in the Indian Ocean, nearly 14 hours before springs at Cape 
Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, and over 60 hours before that at Mel- 
bourne. Along the Pacific coasts of North and South America the time 
of springs shows not the slightest trace of progression. The entire coast 
seems to be broken up into four or five regions in each of which the time 



Centennial Celebration 




ii2 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

of springs is approximately the same for all points, but in passing from 
one region to another the time changes abruptly. Thus, both the 
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans seem to be broken up into independently 
vibrating areas, and the weight of evidence would seem to be in favor of 
the new theory that the tides are local in their origin. 

This explanation of the tides as purely local phenomena stands out as 
the great scientific contribution of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to the 
theories of the oceanic tides. 

Mr. Jones: We thank Doctor Poor for his very interesting and con- 
structive discussion on tides. 

The Coast and Geodetic Survey is essentially a geographic organization, 
and while much of its work is the delineation of the boundaries between 
land and water areas, the Survey has made other contributions in the broad 
field of physical geography. We.are very fortunate in having with us one 
eminently qualified to tell us something of this work. Our next address, 
and the last, will be "The Contribution of the United States Coast and 
Geodetic Survey to the Science of Physical Geography." I take pleasure 
in introducing to you Doctor Douglas Wilson Johnson, professor of physi- 
ography of Columbia University. 

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY TO THE SCD2NCE OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 

Doctor Johnson : A geographer labors under an inevitable embarrass- 
ment in addressing you at the end of a program in which so many distin- 
guished speakers have paid tribute to the contributions made by the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey to their respective sciences. The field 
of physical geography is so broad it overlaps its sister sciences at many 
points; and where such overlapping occurs, my friends in the other 
sciences and I must stand on common ground when acknowledging our 
mutual debt to the splendid organization which has made us all the 
richer. It is not feasible adequately to express the obligation under 
which all geographers have been placed by the high achievements which 
we celebrate to-day without duplicating words of appreciation to which 
you have already listened. I crave your indulgence, therefore, if in 
speaking for my coworkers in the science of earth relations I again touch 
briefly on some phases of the Survey's work which have been more fully 
presented by others. 

Should it appear in what I have to say that physical geography lavs 
claim to too large a portion of the great field of human knowledge, I can 
justly plead in defense that I have nowhere transgressed those limits 
long accorded to the subject by honorable tradition. Four great divisions 
of the science are commonly recognized, the first of which concerns itself 
with the broader relations of the earth as a globe, including its size, shape, 
motions, and magnetic properties. The physical geography of the atmos- 
phere treats of the composition, temperatures, movements, and other 



Centennial Celebration 113 

phenomena which characterize the gaseous envelope of the earth; while 
the physical geography of the ocean does not stop with a consideration 
of the corresponding elements in the liquid envelope, but includes, in 
addition, a study of the form and composition of the ocean bottom. The 
physical geography of the lands is concerned with the evolution of the 
surface features of the globe under the influence of rivers, glaciers, waves, 
and winds. Truly the scope of the subject is sufficiently broad to satisfy 
the most ambitious. 

But if the boundaries of geographic science are far extended, the activi- 
ties of the Coast and Geodetic Survey have been no less far-reaching. 
Beginning their labors along that line where land and air and ocean 
meet, its hardy pioneers have carried their researches forward to the 
ocean deeps, backward over the continents, and upward into the realm 
of the winds. And finally, not content with pushing back the limits of 
the unknown in these three directions, Hayford and his collaborators 
have recently embarked in the one direction yet remaining, seeking 
isostatic equilibrium 76 miles below the planet's surface. Of the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey it may truly be said that its field of study includes 
quite literally the heaven above, the earth beneath, and the water under 
the earth. 

Let us turn for a moment to that branch of physical geography men- 
tioned first above, and ask the question "What contributions has the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey made to our knowledge of the earth as a 
globe?" To come within the limits of allotted time, the answer must be 
brief; but there are several items which no geographer would care to 
have omitted from even the briefest catalogue of the Survey's honorable 
achievements in this department of our science. 

More than 200 years before Christ, the Alexandrian astronomer and 
geographer, Eratosthenes, introduced a method for measuring the size of 
the earth, which gave him approximately correct results. This method 
consisted in measuring over the curved surface of the earth the length of 
an arc connecting two points, the positions of which were determinable; 
and is to-day, more than 2,000 years later, the only known means of 
ascertaining with accuracy the dimensions of our planet. The longer 
the arc measured, and the more refined the instrumental methods 
employed, the greater will be the degree of precision attained. The vast 
extent of our national domain offered the Survey an exceptional oppor- 
tunity to repeat on a grand scale the work of the ancient Alexandrian. 
Arcs which are hundreds, in some cases even thousands, of miles in length 
have been measured across our portion of the globe's surface. From the 
Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean along the thirty-ninth parallel, from Canada 
to Mexico along the ninety-eighth meridian, and again along the Pacific 
coast, from Maine to Florida along the Atlantic coast — run a few of the 
great arcs already completed by the Survey, giving us a total of some 
12,000 miles, or nearly half the circumference of the earth, measured 
by primary triangulation. The data thus secured have been utilized in 
44282°— 16 8 



H4 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

making new computations of the earth's magnitude. Nor was the Survey 
content to secure its results by using methods and instruments just as 
these were inherited from earlier workers. On the contrary, both methods 
and instruments have been improved and perfected until the geographer's 
present knowledge of earth dimensions has a degree of precision undreamed 
of by the pioneers in this branch of mensuration. 

Closely connected with the study of the earth's dimensions is the study 
of the form of the earth. The geographer is no longer content with proofs 
of the nearly spherical form of the earth adduced by Eudoxus and Aris- 
totle before the Christian era; nor yet with proofs of the oblateness of 
the spheroid secured by French savants near the middle of the eighteenth 
century. Modern investigators have shown that in its actual form the 
earth departs very materially from the theoretical oblate spheroid, the 
sea-level surface, together with its imaginary extension under the con- 
tinents, being a surface which now rises above, now falls below, the mean 
surface of the earth by amounts reaching hundreds of feet in places. The 
present form of the geoid, as this very irregular sea-level surface is called, 
is a matter of interest to the geographer, since its irregularities deflect the 
plumb line from the direction normal to the spheroid, and so introduce 
errors into astronomic determinations which can only be eliminated after 
numerous observations have fully established the direction and amount 
of the disturbing force. It is to the credit of the Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey that its computations of both the size and form of the earth are prob- 
ably the most accurate which have ever been made, partly because in 
making them the theory of isostasy was consistently applied. 

The regular rotation of a globular earth made possible the system of 
parallels and meridians upon which the geographer depends in locating 
points upon the curved surface of the planet. The accurate determina- 
tion of the latitude and longitude of places requires the skill of such 
experts as have reflected honor on the hundred years of the Coast Sur- 
vey's activity. The method of determining longitude by telegraph was 
introduced and perfected by the Survey, and later adopted by all other 
civilized countries, with whom it became known as the "American 
method." 

At the present time it is practicable to ascertain the longitude of a 
point in the United States with a probable error of not more than 10 or 
20 yards, while latitude determinations may be made with a probable 
error only one-fifth as great. 

A physical property of the earth, possessing a high degree of impor- 
tance for the geographer, is its magnetism. Whether employed by the 
mariner steering his course through storms at sea, the explorer guiding 
his footsteps in a new land, the aviator cutting his path through mist and 
cloud, or the surveyor determining the position of a railway route, the 
magnetic needle is a servant of priceless value, and any force which 
affects it is a matter of prime interest to the physical geographer. Be- 



Centennial Celebration 115 

cause the needle does not usually point to the true north, and because 
the amount of its declination from that direction varies from year to year, 
and even from hour to hour, the physical geographer must acknowledge 
his indebtedness to any organization which investigates the several ele- 
ments of the earth's magnetism, records the changes to which those 
elements are subject, discovers the laws which govern such changes, and 
charts the results obtained for the profitable use of the world. 

I need not dwell upon the important work done by the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey in the field of terrestrial magnetism. One 
peculiarly well qualified to speak with authority concerning any matter 
touching the magnetic properties of our globe has already paid tribute 
to the Survey's honorable record in this important field; and it is fitting 
that I confine myself to a simple expression of the geographer's sense of 
obligation for the Survey's valuable contributions to this department of 
scientific knowledge. 

One of the physical properties of the globular earth having far-reaching 
geographical consequences is the vertical downward pull to which bodies 
on its surface are subjected by the force of gravity. Two centuries and a 
half ago it was discovered that this gravitative pull was not everywhere 
of the same strength, since a pendulum clock lost time when moved 
toward the Equator. The demonstration that this variation in the force 
of gravity was due to the earth's departure from a truly spherical form 
opened up a wide field for the study of earth form through measurements 
of gravity by pendulum observations. The record of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey in this field of research is truly an enviable one. In 
order to achieve the highest possible degree of accuracy the Survey 
designed and constructed a special form of pendulum, the Mendenhall 
pendulum, which has given excellent results. Some conception of the 
delicacy of this instrument may be gained from the fact that a correction 
is applied for the effect of the pendulum in rocking its 100-pound brass 
case even when swinging slowly through a very small arc, the slight 
movement of the case being detected by means of an interferometer 
capable of measuring distances as small as one ten-millionth of an inch. 

Exceedingly small variations in the intensity of gravity are susceptible 
of detection with a pendulum of this type, and when corrected for the 
disturbing effects of altitude, variable topography, and other interfering 
causes, give us the means of deducing the form of the earth with great 
exactness. Reference has already been made to the utilization of the 
Survey's gravity observations in developing the Hayfordian theory of 
isostasy; and while the problems of isostasy claim the attention of the 
geologist more fully than that of the geographer, certain aspects of physi- 
cal geography, such as the conditions under which peneplanes are devel- 
oped and later uplifted, are closely related to the theory of isostatic com- 
pensation; and Hayford's work has made a profound impression upon 
all geographers. 



u6 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Without attempting to present anything like a complete list of the 
contributions made by the Coast and Geodetic Survey to that branch of 
physical geography which we have just been considering, I ask you now 
to turn your attention for a moment to a phase of the subject in which 
it might well seem the Survey could scarcely have interested itself. 
The physical geography of the atmosphere could not, perhaps, rightly 
claim the service of a coast survey in enriching its special field of learning. 
Yet even here the geographer must gratefully acknowledge his indebted- 
ness to an organization whose interests have been of truly astonishing 
breadth. We may note in passing that the Survey has contributed to 
our knowledge of atmospheric electricity, atmospheric refraction, and 
the influence of the winds upon water levels; but more important is the 
fact that for 15 years the Survey claimed as one of its members a great 
American meteorologist, William Ferrel, who in the years 1875 to 1881 
published in the Survey reports a series of valuable monographs under 
the general title "Meteorological Researches." Through these contri- 
butions the Survey rendered to the physical geography of the atmosphere 
a service of enduring value. 

If we turn to the physical geography of the lands, the contributions 
made by the Coast and Geodetic Survey to our knowledge of land forms 
are most imposing. In the first place it should be noted that the geogra- 
pher must depend upon maps for the representations of those areas 
which he desires to study, and that the best of our maps are located and 
bounded in accordance with data -furnished by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. It is a source of gratification to the geographer that one great 
national bureau is charged with the duties which in the hands of the 
several States would inevitably lead to that confusion which reigned in 
Australia until, in 191 2, the several surveyors general united in recom- 
mending the establishment of a single survey, modeled after the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey of the United States. The consequences of indi- 
vidual"State control, which would result from lack of uniform standards 
of accuracy and lack of agreement with work in adjoining States, may 
be imagined from the fact that "the best maps of the States of Ohio, 
Indiana, and Kentucky, constructed upon independent data, when put 
together leave no delineation of the Ohio River," while "between the 
land-survey maps of Illinois and Missouri the Mississippi River presents 
in places wide lakes, while in others it entirely disappears." The Coast 
and Geodetic Survey has not only furnished all the States wnth uniform 
and precise data upon which to base their local surveys, but has assisted 
many States in defining the geographical boundaries which separate 
them from their neighbors, and has cooperated in a similar manner in 
establishing parts of our national frontiers. 

To the Coast and Geodetic Survey the geographer is likewise indebted 
for a great series of precise levels established throughout the country and 
utilized by the topographers of the United States Geological Survey in 



Centennial Celebration 117 

constructing contour maps. The careful determination of the true sea 
level with the establishment of numerous points at accurately deter- 
mined altitudes above that level also offers an opportunity for future 
investigators to solve the problem of possible elevations or subsidences 
of the land. It is due to the Coast and Geodetic Survey's accurate de- 
terminations of the mean sea level at Sandy Hook and at Fort Hamilton 
in past years that it has been possible to prove the absolute stability of 
the Atlantic coast in the vicinity of New York during a period of at least 
a quarter of a century. In a somewhat similar manner the precise loca- 
tion of points on the earth's surface affords a basis for the detailed study 
of those lateral movements of the crust sometimes associated with seismic 
phenomena. Thus, following the San Francisco earthquake, a resurvey 
of points previously established by the Survey demonstrated the mag- 
nitude and character of the lateral displacement. 

The student of land forms finds in the charts of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey a wealth of valuable material. Indeed, if you ask a group of 
geographers what constitutes the most important contribution of the 
Survey to geographical science, a majority will answer: "The charts." 
It is true that only a narrow margin of the land is represented; but it is 
a zone of peculiar importance, a zone where two great physical provinces 
meet, and a zone where changes in the form of the land take place with 
exceptional rapidity. Moreover, the Survey's delineation of this impor- 
tant zone has been achieved with rare skill. Where else will you 
find such admirable representations of a series of wave-eroded terraces 
as may be found on the Survey's charts of the California coast ? Where 
is the past history of a complicated shore line and its gradual evolution 
to the present form recorded with such fidelity as on the Survey's charts 
of Nantasket Beach, on the coast of Massachusetts? Where else than on 
the Survey's chart of Cape Canaveral can the varying position of a shift- 
ing cape be so well studied? The essential features of bars and spits, 
inlets and lagoons, capes and deltas recorded on the charts of the Survey 
make them an invaluable addition to the world's cartographic library 
of land forms. 

Geographers derive a special profit from the Survey's system of revis- 
ing from time to time the charts of such portions of the shore as are 
subject to exceptionally rapid changes. The student of shore forms is 
thus put in possession of data which enable him to trace the recent evo- 
lution of the shore line with certainty, and to draw conclusions as to its 
past history with an unusual degree of assurance. From such data the 
laws controlling the operation of shore forces may be discovered and 
hence the interpretation of shore forms in other regions greatly facili- 
tated. That the shore-line changes recorded by successive charts are by 
no means of minor importance may be appreciated from the fact that 
Fishing Point, on the Virginia coast, has grown southward more than 3 
miles in 65 years, converting a region of open water into a natural har- 



n8 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

bor of refuge. Monomoy Island, on the Massachusetts coast, has gained 
3 miles at its northern end in the same interval of time. At the entrance 
to New York Harbor successive surveys show the westward growth of 
Rockaway Point at a rate of 250 feet per year, while Long Beach, Coney 
Island, and Sandy Hook have also advanced toward the harbor entrance. 

Other parts of the coast are losing ground under the persistent attack 
of the waves, which may cut back the land so rapidly as to undermine 
and destroy houses along the shore. Sand bars separating shallow 
lagoons or bays from the open ocean are broken through during storms, 
and the lateral migration of inlets formed in this manner are clearly 
shown on successive series of the Survey charts. 

Much light is thrown on the history of rapidly changing land forms of 
nonmarine origin, when these occur in the narrow coastal zone covered 
by the topographic work of the Survey and when successive charts of 
such a region are available. The Bogoslof Islands, on the Alaskan coast, 
furnish an admirable example of shores changing with great rapidity 
under the influence of volcanic forces, while the activity of a river in 
adding a new lobe to its delta is beautifully shown on charts of two 
successive surveys at the mouth of the Mississippi River. 

It is in connection with the physical geography of the ocean, however, 
that the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey has probably rendered 
its most signal service to the science of geography. The Survey's notable 
explorations of the Gulf Stream have served to acquaint the geographer 
with the principal characteristics of that most important of all ocean 
currents; and the famous investigations of Pillsbury, the work of the 
Survey's ship Blake, under the command of Sigsbee and Bartlett, and 
the results secured by Bache, Pourtales, and others must always fill an 
honorable page in any history of the Survey's operations. Our knowl- 
edge of the ocean has been further advanced through the Survey's deep- 
sea soundings, carried on in part with the aid of a special sounding 
machine designed by Sigsbee, and through its observations of oceanic 
temperatures and its determinations of the salinity, density, and compo- 
sition of sea water. Studies of current action on the dangerous Nantucket 
Shoals, in and about New York Harbor, and along many other parts of 
our coast occupy an important place in the Survey's reports. Ferrel's 
studies of tides and the monumental work on tides which has made 
Harris an international authority in his chosen field are but two out of 
many valuable contributions which the Survey has made to this branch 
of oceanography. To the Survey we are also indebted for the develop- 
ment of a tide-predicting machine, representing a marked improvement 
over any other similar device ever constructed. 

The form of the ocean bottom, particularly near the margins of the 
lands, has claimed a large share of the Survey's attention. That this is 
eminently appropriate must appear from consideration of the fact that 
the hidden irregularities of the sea bottom constitute a menace to navi- 



Centennial Celebration 119 

gation which can only be avoided when carefully located and accurately 
charted. Parts of the ocean floor are veritable graveyards of ships in 
which rocky pinnacles are the tombstones bearing the names of the 
vessels which met disaster on their submerged points. The geographer 
profits from the wealth of detailed information concerning the ocean 
bottom which the Survey develops in the course of its efforts to render 
navigation in the shallower waters safe; and while the composition and 
distribution of the materials composing the submarine floor are to him a 
matter of no small importance, his primary interest, like that of the 
Survey, is in the form of the submerged surfaces. 

By developing the contours of the underwater areas the Survey enables 
the geographer to carry his study of land forms beyond the barrier of the 
shore line. The ridges and valleys of the Maine coast are only partially 
exposed above sea level. No study of them can be complete which does 
not consider their seaward continuations as revealed by the coast charts. 
The drumhns of Boston Harbor have been greatly eroded, but the charts 
of that region reveal submerged platforms representing the bases of hills 
now consumed by the waves. Off the south coast of New England the 
course of the great terminal moraine of the continental glacier can be 
traced beneath the ocean waters, while the visible valley of the Hudson 
may be followed as a submarine canyon to the edge of the continental 
shelf. Any investigation of the origin of the Carolina Capes or Cape 
Canaveral lequires a study of the shoals which lie beyond these projecting 
points, and which are clearly shown on the Survey's charts. The studies 
of the Florida reefs and keys, made by Agassiz and others, supplemented 
by the excellent charts of those interesting coral formations now avail- 
able, enable the geographer to visualize an important section of our con- 
tinental margin of which but little is revealed to the ordinary eye. A 
knowledge of the subaqueous contours of the Mississippi Delta is essential 
to a proper understanding of that small portion of the delta projecting 
above the Gulf waters, while the submerged valleys off the California 
coast have been used in developing a theory of the physiographic history 
of the Pacific border of the continent. The Alaskan fiords are incom- 
pletely known until the work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey establishes 
the contours of their deeply submerged portions — a work carried on with 
such skill that successive halts in the retreats of the ice tongue which 
carved a given fiord are demonstrated by the discovery of submerged 
terminal moraines, revealed by means of the sounding line. 

But it is not usually the larger features just mentioned which prove 
the greatest danger to navigation. A submerged bowlder or pinnacle 
rock is a more serious menace, because more difficult to locate. Imagine, 
for example, that one of the great glacial bowlders of the New England 
coast lies concealed somewhere beneath the treacherous surface of a 
broad, smooth sea, and that you must discover it by repeated sound- 
ings; or that a whole field of such bowlders, frequently visible on glaci- 



120 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

ated lands, may likewise be covered by a shallow sea. Clearly the task 
of locating and charting these hidden dangers to shipping imposes an 
almost impossible burden on the man with the sounding line. On the 
Alaskan coast sharp rock pinnacles or needles frequently rise abruptly 
from the sea, and occasionally attain a height greater than that of the 
Washington Monument. Similar pinnacles in the submerged portion 
of the fiords fail to reach the surface but rise high enough to wreck a 
passing steamer. Imagine yourself sounding many square miles of 
fiord waters in the hope of dropping your sounding lead on the topmost 
point of a submerged pinnacle of this type. Would it surprise you if, 
after years of the most painstaking labor, a vessel should strike and 
sink where the chart showed deep water? 

One of the most interesting advances in the Survey's method of chart- 
ing the bottoms of shallow seas consists in the perfection of a wire 
drag adapted to work in tidal waters, by means of which detailed fea- 
tures of the ocean floor may be more readily discovered and charted. A 
wire, sometimes more than 4 miles in length and supported by suit- 
ably spaced floats, is dragged through the water at any desired depth 
until some hidden obstruction is encountered. By means of wire- 
drag surveys, as many as 15 danger points have been discovered in a 
single day's work. In waters so extensively used as the East River at 
New York, rock projections capable of Avrecking vessels of the present 
maximum draft were last year discovered by the wire drag at a spot 
where previous surveys showed no such danger. When an obstacle has 
once been definitely located by the drag, its exact form may be de- 
veloped by repeated careful soundings, while the drag continues its 
sweeping operations. 

It will be evident that such refined work must add much to the 
geographer's knowledge of the sea floor. Even the scattered morainic 
bowlders of a submerged glaciated area are thus revealed, and the gla- 
cialist may draw conclusions supplementing those based on observations 
above sea level. Projecting masses of coral may be located and a more 
adequate picture of the reefs on which they grow thus made possible. 
Employed in combination, the wire drag and sounding methods have 
produced results of a truly remarkable character. Through the use of 
one method or the other, or of both methods combined, the Survey has 
been enabled to report on the character of submarine springs, mud 
lumps, bowlder fields, giant sand ripples, fissures, dikes, and many other 
minor features of lands now submerged. Successive surveys of the 
same area have demonstrated the filling and scouring action of tidal 
currents and the changes in sea-floor level associated with seismic dis- 
turbances. 

I have made no attempt to catalogue in full the many valuable con- 
tributions which the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey has made 
to the science of physical geography. I am only too sensible of the 



Centennial Celebration 121 

fact that I have omitted from this brief summary items which others 
would have wished to see included; but my object has been to indicate 
the general scope of the debt geographers owe the Survey, rather than 
to itemize the full account of our indebtedness. It would be improper, 
however, to close this address without saying at least a word of apprecia- 
tion for another of the Survey's contributions to geographic science, 
which it is more difficult to describe in words but which no geographer 
can fail to recognize. I refer to the influence exerted upon our science 
by the high standards of accuracy and the reputation for progressive 
efficiency which the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey enjoys 
throughout the world. As one noted geographer has well said: "The 
Survey has been a concrete embodiment of the fact that geography is not 
merely a descriptive science, but is capable of being reduced to a high 
degree of mathematical accuracy in many of its branches." 

Mr. Jones: We are very grateful to Doctor Johnson for this highly 
illuminating and interesting address on physical geography. 

On account of the many requests and through the further courtesy 
of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, our exhibit in this 
building will remain open to the public on Friday, Saturday, and Sun- 
day during the regular hours that are observed by the Smithsonian 
Institution. 

And now in behalf of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, I thank the 
gentlemen most heartily who have contributed to the great success of 
these exercises. I am sure what they have said will act as an inspira- 
tion to all of us in the continuation of the work so noblv begun. 



THE CENTENNIAL BANQUET, FRIDAY EVE- 
NING, APRIL 6, 1916 



OPENING ADDRESS OF THE TOASTMASTER 

Mr. Jones: Mr. President, Mr. Minister, ladies, and gentlemen, it 
affords me especial pleasure to extend to you on this occasion a hearty 
welcome on behalf of the members of the United States Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey. I know I may extend a cordial greeting to those who have 
traveled many miles to join with us in this centennial celebration. 

One hundred years is a long span to be given to one line of service. 
Fifty years, even 25 years, might be considered fairly concentrative work. 
Our country was young when the necessity for charting its coast was 
recognized, and the Bureau — the oldest scientific establishment of our 
Government — which was called into being by the wisdom of President 
Jefferson and the genius of Professor Hassler in 181 6, has accomplished 
work of which we may justly be proud. 

This history, which we have spent the last two days in reviewing, 
brings to light the record of men, fine and true, of patriotic ideals and 
character, who have spared nothing in their labors for the advancement 
of science and the safety of mankind. I gladly join, with the utmost 
enthusiasm, in the felicitation of those who have done this good and 
effective work. 

When President Jefferson conceived the idea of the United States Coast 
Survey he called on a learned scientist from Switzerland, Professor 
Hassler, to aid him. Professor Hassler planned and directed this work 
for years. It seems peculiarly fitting, therefore, that we should at this 
centennial celebration again have with us a representative of that country. 
I have the honor of introducing to you His Excellency Doctor Paul 
Ritter, the minister from Switzerland. 

ADDRESS BY PAUL RITTER, LL. D., ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY AND MIN- 
ISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY FROM SWITZERLAND 

Doctor RiTTER: Mr. President, Mr. Superintendent, ladies, and gentle- 
men, it may surprise some of you that the only foreigner who has the 
privilege to say a few words on this festive occasion is the Swiss 
minister. Needless to state there is no foundation whatsoever for the 
facetious suggestion that profound political reasons governed the choice 
of the representative of the only country which has no coasts, no harbors, 
and no navy to assist in this jubilee celebration of the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
122 



Centennial Celebration 123 

I owe my presence here to the circumstance which is alike honorable 
and agreeable to me, that the first Superintendent of the Coast Survey, 
which now has grown so great and celebrated, was the Swiss engineer, 
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler. 

At all times in the history of the United States some of my countrymen 
may be found who assisted in the development of this country and who 
have made a place for themselves in the hearts of grateful Americans. 

The activities of Professor Hassler, as founder of two of your great 
national enterprises — that is, the Coast Survey and the Bureau of Stand- 
ards — took place in the first half of the nineteenth century. A retrospect 
shows us that during those 50 years my countryman had as contemporaries 
several distinguished Swiss, who emigrated to this country at about the 
same time. First among them, it gives me particular pleasure to mention 
Hassler's friend, Albert Gallatin, of Geneva. 

Actuated by the same spirit as Lafayette, Gallatin, at the age of 18, 
crossed the ocean in order to fight for American independence. Later on 
he achieved the highest honors open to a Swiss in this country. He was 
not only the first foreign-born Senator of the United States, but for 12 
vears he served with acknowledged ability and success as Secretary of 
the Treasury under Jefferson and Madison. He went to England with 
John Quincy Adams as a peace commissioner and remained abroad until 
1823 as minister to Paris. After his return he declined the offer of the 
Democratic Party to become a candidate for the Vice Presidency, because 
he wished to devote all his time to his scientific studies of finance, history, 
and ethnology. 

Not less well known to you, gentlemen, is the name of the Swiss 
naturalist, Louis Jean Rudolph Agassiz, of Motier, who during the 27 
years of his incumbency made famous the chair of zoolog}' at Harvard. 
His son, Alexander Agassiz, who was born at Neuchatel in 1833 and who 
labored in the same field of research at Harvard as his father, was at one 
time an aid in the Coast Survey, with which he remained closely asso- 
ciated, as shown in his book, " Three Cruises of the Blake." Avery special 
reason for mentioning his name is that he was so highly esteemed by 
President Cleveland that the latter offered him the superintendency of 
the Survey, but Agassiz preferred to continue his favorite researches. 

Another name highly esteemed in the United States is that of my 
countryman, A. Henry Guyot, of Neuchatel, a friend and collaborator of 
Louis Agassiz and an authority on geology and physical geography. For 
30 years he was professor of physical geography at Princeton. When he 
died, in 1884, his students sent for an erratic bowlder from a Swiss 
glacial moraine, and with suggestive sentiment they marked his American 
grave with that memorial stone from the land of his birth. 

It may be mentioned casually that the best -known investigators of the 
aborigines of the United States, most profoundly familiar with the 



124 U- •S'- Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Indians and their languages, are Albert Gatschet, of St. Beatenberg, and 
Adolf Bandelier, of Bern. 

In passing let me add that only four American citizens have so far 
been honored by being elected foreign associate members of the French 
Academy of Sciences: Benjamin Franklin, Simon Newcomb, Louis 
Agassiz, and Alexander Agassiz. 

Pardon me that I was tempted by my patriotic fervor and by the pres- 
ence of so many men of science to say more about my compatriots than I 
originally intended, and let me revert again to Professor Hassler, to 
whose fame I owe my presence here. 

Ferdinand Rudolf Hassler, born in 1770 in the charming little town 
of Aarau, was the son of a highly respected and wealthy watch manu- 
facturer. After putting him through the Swiss schools his father sent 
him to Bern to study under one of the most renowned mathematicians 
of those times, Johann Georg Tralles, a German. Tralles had been com- 
missioned to make the first geodetic survey of Switzerland, and his 
pupil Hassler, at that time 21 years old, assisted him by taking inde- 
pendent charge of the measurement of a base line in his home Canton of 
Aargau, which was to be the foundation of the triangulation. Later on 
he went to Germany to attend lectures on astronomy, political economy, 
and diplomacy, and afterwards to France to complete his studies in 
mineralogy, chemistry, mining, and mining law. After his return to 
Switzerland he married Marianne Gaillard, of Murten. His fellow citi- 
zens immediately recognized his ability and conferred various offices on 
him; thus he was called upon to act as counsellor and state's attorney in 
the Canton of Aargau. 

But a desire for wider fields of activity seized him when the news of 
the success of Swiss settlements in the United States spread throughout 
Switzerland. 

In 1805 Hassler and his family left the Helvetic Republic, accom- 
panied by 120 of his compatriots, who were capable and enterprising, 
but anxious to exchange the narrow limits of free Switzerland for the 
boundless possibilities of the equally free New World. Hassler emi- 
grated, not as an adventurer, but as a scientific pioneer in the fullest 
sense of the- word. He carried with him his splendid library of over 
3,000 volumes and his collection of technical instruments, the like of which 
had never before crossed the ocean. In the course of time, however, 
overtaken by the vicissitudes of fate, he was compelled to sell his be- 
loved books. 

In Philadelphia, the seat of government at that time, he was cor- 
dially received by Albert Gallatin and introduced to President Jefferson. 
The President soon perceived the power in the young savant which could 
be utilized in the development of the governmental project for a survey 
of the coasts. 



Centennial Celebration 125 

In 1807 Congress decided on starting the work, and in answer to a 
circular request 12 plans were submitted by eminent scientific men, 
among them Hassler's, which was adopted. Accordingly, the work was 
intrusted to him and its execution became the principal occupation of 
his life and established his high reputation. At that time Hassler was 
professor of mathematics at the newly created Military Academy at 
West Point. He held this position until 181 1, when, after Congress had 
appropriated the necessary money for the purchase of instruments, he 
went to London to order and supervise their construction and deliv- 
ery; but the outbreak of the war with England in 181 2 caused many 
delays and not until 181 5 could the many difficulties be overcome. 
Finally, in 1816, a beginning was made of the survey of the coasts. 
Financial reasons, however, prevented its prosecution beyond 181 8, and 
Hassler retired to a farm at Cape Vincent, New York. He remained 
without Government employment for 12 years, a period abundantly 
productive of scientific- work. 

At the request of the Treasury Department he commenced in 1830 
the comparison of weights and measures in use in the customhouses and 
the construction of standards. Two years later he again assumed the 
duties of Superintendent of the Coast Survey. Under his able direction 
the Survey rapidly expanded. One hundred engineers and 20 surveying 
vessels were incessantly employed on the survey, when, in 1843, at the 
age of 73, death put an end to his beneficent endeavors. 

Notwithstanding his long life in America, Hassler always preserved an 
affectionate attachment for his fatherland. It is touching to learn that 
during the long and ceaseless journeys which he was compelled to make 
in his coach he always carried a Swiss music box that he might hear 
the Alpine tunes of his old home. He left five sons and two daughters. 
Several of his descendants live in the United States and some of them 
here in Washington. When his remains were buried in Laurel Hill Ceme- 
tery, Philadelphia, officers of the Army and Navy placed upon his coffin 
a parchment which says in conclusion : 

His scientific writings and the national works created by him for the United States 
serve not only as beautiful memorials of his active life but for the education and 
enlightenment of mankind. 

In his memorial of Hassler, Professor Alexander said of him: "He 
was patient, fearless, and industrious. In his character he united every- 
thing which may be called great and good." 

Gentlemen, priding ourselves with such men as ties that bind it is 
but natural that the social as well as the commercial relations between 
our Republics should be of the most agreeable kind, just as they always 
have been. The present stress, however, through which the world is 
passing has tended to unite us still more closely. Switzerland, sur- 
rounded as she is by belligerent powers, looks to the United States as 
her basis of supply to a much greater degree than ever before. On the 



126 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

other hand, in your mighty and rapidly developing Union the philan- 
thropic activities of Switzerland, as well as her citizen army, are fre- 
quently discussed in the most friendly and sympathetic manner. Our 
two countries, though separated by the oceans, are to-day pursuing the 
same great aim and goal — peace. 

May President Wilson, the exalted citizen at the head of the United 
States, be crowned in his sublime endeavor with lasting success. 

Mr. Jones: It has been a privilege to hear this address from Doctor 
Ritter, and I am sure I voice the sentiments of all present in extending 
to him our hearty thanks. 

Many of you know that the Coast and Geodetic Survey is represented 
in many parts of the earth. I have received to-day some telegrams 
from those who are deeply interested; some from our own officers at 
home and in distant lands and others from men who have helped build 
up the Coast and Geodetic Survey and are now identified with other insti- 
tutions. The first one which I would like to read to you is from Pro- 
fessor John F. Hayford, head of the College of Engineering of North- 
western University and one of the famous geodesists in the world : 

College of Engineering, Northwestern University, 

Evanston, III., April 6, igi6. 
Greetings to the friends of the Coast and Geodetic Survey assembled April 6, igi6, in 
celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Survey: 
I regret that I am unable to be present in person. I am with you inspirit. 
I appreciated so thoroughly the privilege of being connected with the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey for 17 years that I can not quickly forget the Survey nor fail to 
rejoice in its prosperity and long life. 

During its century of activity the Coast and Geodetic Survey has contributed to 
the safety of navigation more than it is possible to fully realize. It has contributed 
more, as the earliest scientific bureau, to the upbuilding of Washington science than 
it is possible to trace. It has put the mapping of the interior of the United States on 
a firm basis for all time. It has contributed liberally to progress in the branches of 
science which it has touched. 

I congratulate, especially, those of you who are still carrying forward the flag of 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey to new and greater triumphs. 

John F. Hayford. 
(Formerly in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1889-1895 and 1898-1909.) 

A word of greeting from our representative in Honolulu : 

Honolulu, April 5, igi6. 



Coast Survey, Washington: 

Aloha nui 16a from Hawaii. (Best congratulations from Hawaii.) 



Merrymon. 



I have an interesting message, not from one of our own officers, but 

from a representative of a sister Republic. 

Mexico City, April 6, igi6. 
E. Lester Jones, Superintendent. 

Confirm letter sending greetings on celebration of hundredth anniversary of the 
creation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, commemorating fact of far-reaching 

importance in the annals of human culture. 

Pedro C. Sanchez, 

Director of Geographical and Climatological Studies of Mexico. 



Centennial Celebration 127 

The work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey has been closely inter- 
locked during many years with the Navy Department. We have been 
not only closely affiliated with them in protecting and safeguarding the 
waters, but in the early history of the Survey many of its officers were 
detailed from the Navy and the success of the Survey is in a measure 
due to their assistance. I take great pleasure in introducing to you 
the Secretary of the Navy. 

THE COOPERATION OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY AND THE NAVY 

Secretary Daniels: Mr. President, Mr. Superintendent, I wish to 
express my grateful appreciation to the distinguished minister from 
Switzerland for giving an answer to a question which we have been try- 
ing to answer in the Navy Department for more than a year. You will 
recall that the Sixty-second Congress authorized a mobilization of the 
fleets of the world to go through the Panama Canal and celebrate for- 
mally the opening of that great artery between the oceans, and when 
we came to send invitations to all the nations of the world we sent an 
invitation to the navy of Switzerland. The bright paragraphers all 
over America began to have fun with the Navy Department, thinking 
it had made a great error in honoring that Republic with an invitation 
to take part in a naval parade. You have the answer to-night. When 
Mr. Jefferson, with that vision that characterized him above all of his 
fellows, wished to establish in America the Coast Survey, he turned to 
the Republic of Switzerland and brought here the distinguished gentle- 
man who was the first head of this Survey. And it was interesting to me, 
as it was to you, to learn from the distinguished minister that both these 
disciples of science devoted themselves so unreservedly to the public 
welfare that both of them had to sell their libraries. 

The Navy and the Coast and Geodetic Survey are twins. I do not 
know to-night, speaking for the Navy, whether we are here mostly in 
pride at the achievements of this Survey or in envy that it is no longer 
domiciled in the Navy Department. For nearly two years it was of 
the Navy Department and for many other years distinguished naval 
officers had their first commands in the Coast Suivey. The Hydro- 
graphic Office, in our department, and the Survey maintain such close 
relationship that we do not know where one begins and the other ends; 
and if some night Secretary Redfield and the Superintendent were to 
go to sleep they might wake up the next morning to find that we had 
ordered the Navy and the marines to take the Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey and bring it back into the Navy Department. 

We have now come to know that no matter how great are our ships, 
how skilled our navigators, unless we have charts made by you gentle- 
men they will run upon reefs, and the dreadnaughts and the submarines 
will fail at the vital time. 



128 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Therefore, while we are regretful that the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
no longer is in the Navy, we are looking forward to an achievement by 
this branch of the service which will add even more reputation to it than 
all its achievements of the past, because we are upon the threshold of a 
period when the battles of the world will not be fought on land or on sea 
alone but in the air, and I look to you gentlemen to chart the air as you 
have charted the ocean, so that when the "airy navies grapple in the 
central blue" they will be able to miss the pockets and hit the enemy. 

Mr. Jones: I would like to say just a word in response to one part of 
the Secretary of the Navy's address. He prophesies that some morning 
the Coast and Geodetic Survey might wake up to find itself taken over by 
the Navy. This would be quite impossible, for the Survey never sleeps. 

There are several more telegrams which you would like to hear. 
From one of our commanders now in southern waters: 

Beaufort, S. C, April 5-6, 1916. 
The Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

The officers of the Hydrographer join me in extending congratulations to you and 
to the members of the Survey gathered together on this momentous occasion, the 
centennial of our Survey. We pledge our loyalty in aiding you in the work to which 
you are devoting yourself, continuing the long and honorable record of the Survey, 
and extending its usefulness to meet the exacting demands of these modern times. 
May success attend you in your efforts. 

Frank G. Engle. 

It is peculiarly fitting that in this centennial year we should construct 
on the Great Lakes the first thoroughly efficient Survey vessel. The 
vessel's name is the Surveyor. The inspector in charge, Captain Yates, 
has sent a very appropriate telegram. 

Manitowoc, Wis., April 6, 1916. 
The Superintendent of the TJ. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

On behalf of new ship Surveyor, please accept my compliments and congratulations 
on the centennial of the Coast Survey. If opportune, please state to my colleagues 
and old shipmates that the Surveyor will be under way from the Great Lakes to Alaska 
before the close of navigation, and that she will thus fittingly celebrate our centennial 
year by circumnavigation, as near as can be, the 10,000 miles of ocean coasts to which 
they, and their predecessors for a hundred years, have devoted their lives in survey- 
ing and charting for the safety of life and the promotion of commerce at sea. 

Chari.es C. Yates. 

One from our inspector at Seattle : 

Seattle, Wash., April 6, 1916. 
The Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

The Pacific-Northwest contingent sends greetings, with the loyal assurance that 
every effort will be made to continue with renewed and accelerated vigor the work 
that the past has proved to be so comprehensive for the safeguarding of life and the 
promotion of commercial prosperity. 

J. F. Pratt. 

From our officer in charge of the magnetic observatory at Tucson, 

Arizona : 

Tucson, Ariz., April 6, 1916. 
Superintendent U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

The Survey is. and rightly deserves to be, congratulated on its efficiency , usefulness, 
and unselfishness. 

F. P. Ulrich. 



Centennial Celebration 129 

It is very pleasant to me to be able at this time to say a word of one 
for whom I have deep feeling. For three years I have been associated 
with him, and that association has been more than a pleasure; yea, it has 
been a privilege. Whenever encouragement was needed or cooperation 
desired he was ever ready to assist in every way he could. It affords me 
exceeding pleasure to present to you the Secretary of Commerce. 

THE SCOPE AND NEEDS OF THE UNITED STATES COAST AND 
GEODETIC SURVEY 

Secretary Redfield: Mr. President, Mr. Superintendent, ladies and 
gentlemen, the record of service that we close to-night is one of which 
any group of men may well be proud. The fine traditions of this service 
that survive in your hearts I know are dear to you. I know a little what 
they have meant to you of personal sacrifice and of struggle under adverse 
conditions. I know what you have done in the lonely places of the 
world unseen and unwatched, untold, with none to advertise. I want 
it known that we here know and appreciate and honor the men who 
carry the burden and heat of the day. 

The work of surveying and engineering is not spectacular. It is not 
comfortable to climb a mountain peak with a pack of instruments upon 
your back. There is nothing that gets readily glorified in being a victim 
to mosquitoes in Alaska, especially when the Government says, "Mos- 
quito nets are not a part of your normal equipment and you must pay 
for them yourselves." I deeply regret that Uncle Sam is so poor that 
he must needs throw out the dollar and a quarter that you have to pay 
to make life possible when you survey the western flats of the great Ter- 
ritory of Alaska. Some day some man will write a book on the mean- 
nesses of Uncle Sam. It will be a very striking book, that will search 
many hearts. You and I know perfectly well what some of those little 
things are. It is a sad thing that we have to be troubled by them. 
There are more than one kind of mosquito in the world, and sometimes 
when one troubles us we have to remember to our pain that there are 
others who will trouble us also. But of that you who have been in the 
field and done the work and been at sea and done the work are accus- 
tomed to reckon little. You have thought of the doing of that work 
with an accuracy and a care which, as you know, has brought to you 
the official approval of the scientific world of Germany and has led the 
great Australian Commonwealth to copy your methods in its own Com- 
monwealth Survey. 

There are fine traditions in this Survey, and there are curious ones. I 
think it is not generally known that the artist Whistler was a draftsman 
in the Coast Survey. He is said by his fellow draftsman, who was a son 
of Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star-Spangled Banner, to have 
made more sketches than drawings. I think Mr. Key has said that if 
44282°— 16 9 



130 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

he could have collected the sketches that Whistler threw upon the floor 
when he was a draftsman he would now have a fortune and a very valu- 
able collection. 

It is also an interesting fact that out of the officers of this service grew 
many generals of the United States Army, and with a very singular neu- 
trality there also grew out of this same service nearly or quite as many 
admirals of the United States Navy. 

Let me speak to you very briefly of the present and the future of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey; what it is, what it has with which to work, 
what its task is, what it hopes to do. We were asked not so long ago, 
When will its work be done? The answer to that is, When the ocean 
currents cease to flow, when the Mississippi River stops bringing silt to 
the Gulf, when Rockaway Point ceases to crawl across the entrance to 
New York Harbor, when earthquakes cease to trouble in a part of our 
frontier. Not until then will the work of this Survey itself cease, for 
that which is surveyed must needs be resurveyed, for the bottom changes 
and ships grow deeper, the ocean currents flow and winds continue to 
blow and engineers continue to work, so that in the single harbor of New 
York in a single year over 280 changes were necessary in the charts. 

The work is splendid in its sweep, from the Sulu Sea just north of 
Borneo to the cold waters of Alaska in the Pacific, and from the tropical 
waters around Florida to the Canadian coast in the Atlantic, and on all 
the continental area of the United States between, and all along the back- 
ward limits of Alaska. Few of our services cover so completely the 
whole round earth. You have heard, and I think will hear still more, 
from the officers of the service who to-night and to-day are busy on all 
the seas doing its wonderful work for the saving of mankind and for 
promoting its commerce. 

There is one fundamental distinction between this service of ours and 
the Navy, which it is my duty to expose to-night. Your great battle- 
ship is a wonderful thing, grim and formidable, but there is one thing 
of which she is dreadfully afraid, about which she is frightened a large 
part of the time, and from which she shrinks with constant terror. That 
is the bottom. It happens that we have in the Department of Commerce 
two fleets, small ones as fleets go — the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet and 
the Lighthouse fleet — whose duty it is to go where no other ships in the 
world dare to go, whose specialty it is to look for the bottom. We are not 
afraid of the bottom in the Coast and Geodetic Survey. That is what we are 
for. We are very familiar with the bottom of the sea. We like it. It is 
our special habitat. It is the place where we belong. I have always said 
about the Department of Commerce that it rules the heaven above, the 
earth beneath, and the waters under the earth; for we have one in the 
wireless and the other in the geodetic part of your work, and the bottom 
of the sea in )'our hydrographic work and in the Bureau of Fisheries. 
I think I have made good on the assertion. 



Centennial Celebration 131 

They court-martial a naval officer when he finds the bottom. We do 
not court-martial our men when they find the bottom. That is what 
our men are for so that the Navy man may cast aside his fear and 
need no longer tremble, but may go in safety where we have been 
before him. A great battleship with its twenty-odd thousand tons of 
steel must needs follow and never lead the little Hydrographer and the 
Bache and their sister vessels, and so it will be, we expect, until the end 
of time. 

There is one tradition in the Coast and Geodetic Survey about which 
I speak with peculiar fondness, and that is the magnificent and ade- 
quate building which houses it here in Washington. I speak of it first 
as a luxury, because it is of such a character that only a wealthy nation 
could afford to run it. Any poorer State would be sunk by the cost. 
But I wish to point out to you, my friends in the sendee, certain ethical 
and scientific values in that very peculiar structure which you inhabit. 
In the first place it has marked moral value, for it forces you to refrain 
from profanity all the time. In the next place it has marked spiritual 
value, because there is nothing more tangible in the way of value about 
it. In the third place, inasmuch as your work is largely that of pre- 
cise leveling, the building was specially arranged with 16 levels, on 4 
floors, to teach you what levels meant. 

Then I have to congratulate you on your endurance of those magnificent 
specimens of naval architecture which you have, so many of you, com- 
manded on so many seas and which, let us hope, are now, through the 
kindly wisdom of a thoughtful Congress, being relegated to the scrap 
heap. You ought to know, however, the great value those vessels have. 
This is a time when ships are busy and costly. We have sold three 
seagoing vessels within 15 months. We got $1,050 for one, including 
its engines. We got $3,050 for another, including its engines and 
equipment, and $3,150 for the third, a total of less than $8,000 for 
three seagoing steamers. And that, gentlemen, was more than their 
worth. I hope the day is gone — I believe it has gone, and there are 
good signs that it has gone — when scientific men are given most unscien- 
tific tools with which to work. 

The job — you know it, I would to Heaven the people of the country 
knew it better — with 103,000 miles of coast to survey, and much 01 it 
yet untouched, the job in Alaska alone greater than the whole task 
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the job in the 
Philippines alone greater than the whole task of France, the job on the 
Pacific coast of the continent of the United States and Hawaii greater 
than the whole task that Germany has set before it; the most tremendous 
and colossal task of the kind in all the world, no two nations together 
having anything which at all approximates it in difficulty and in extent, 
that is the task at which you have labored for 100 years, you and your 
predecessors, and it has only begun. It is begun so little that we have 



132 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

lost in Government vessels alone in Alaska within the last four or five 
years more than the total annual cost of your service. 

I have two pictures. One is the splendid Coast Guard cutter Tahoma 
lying in the harbor of Unalaska safe, a fine ship, almost new; the 
other is the Tahoma a few weeks later where she lies wrecked, with the 
sea washing over her decks. Along there also will be found the fine 
lighthouse steamer Armeria. If you look in another bay of that same 
shore far enough down you will find the steamer Slate of Washington with, 
I presume, the bodies of the 31 people that went down on her. We 
have paid in Alaska twice the whole price of Alaska since we got it in 
wrecked vessels, not counting the lives of the people on board of them 
as worth anything at all. Nay, we have had very peculiar habits of 
surveying up there. We have found many rocks by running merchant 
ships upon them and have had the regular habit of naming the rocks 
after the ships which struck them. You may go along that coast now 
and pick up rock after rock bearing the names of the ships that were 
wrecked upon them. 

We have been wasteful, thoughtless, heedless to the last degree. We 
believe — aye, we know — that the day has come when we are thinking 
more sanely of these things than we did. 

None the less, my friend the Secretary of the Navy ran his battleship 
fleet into a safe place, he thought, in Boston Harbor, or just outside, 
only a few months ago and one of our new surveying parties with what 
we call the "wire drag," which Professor Hassler did not have, went after 
the fleet to see what it could find. It found near where the fine ship 
Wyoming had been lying only a few weeks before a bowlder which had 
7 feet less water over it than the Wyoming drew. Those bowlders 
have a bad way of working with the bottom of a ship. There it lay. 
It was the grace of God and the accident of man that saved the vessel 
from going on it. We put a buoy on it by telegraph of a Sunday morning. 

But not until that method of surveying was put in use for the first 
time a very few years ago was it possible to find these menaces, which 
come between the lines of soundings, and which until then were unknown. 
We in the Coast and Geodetic Survey do not regard the Washington 
Monument as especially tall. We found one under water in Alaska 
which was 100 feet higher, 654 feet in height, and which came to within 
17 feet of the water's surface, just in the place to tear the bottom out of 
a ship, which had a good long distance to sink. It had come between 
lines of soundings in waters long charted. , 

We found five spines sticking up in the East River near Rikers Island, 
east of New York City and within a few hundred yards of where the Sound 
vessels have for years gone in apparent safety. One of them swinging 
too far some time would have torn its bottom out. 

We know now that you can not navigate a vessel from Key West up the 
west coast of Florida reasonably near the shore with any certitude that a 



Centennial Celebration 133 

coral reef will not sink you. We have thousands of square miles of water 
unsurveyed yet on the coast of Florida. The task is vast. It is but 
begun. It must have men. Thank God it is given the men. It must 
have ships, and we have fewer ships now than there were in 1843, just 
about half as many, and some of them still not very good. Only one, 
I think I am correct in saying, perhaps two, were built for the sendee, 
and yet the whole ebb and flow of our commerce at sea depends for its 
security, as well as the movement of every naval vessel, upon the 
accuracy and the thoroughness and the continuity of this work. 

One thing and I have done. Every land title depends to a greater 
or less extent upon accurate and continued knowledge of the operations 
of the past. Our seaboard titles depend upon a continued knowledge, 
actually kept, of the changes in the ocean line, which are many. As 
things now are, the records of every bit of our Atlantic water front, in 
which are involved the accuracy of every land-front title from New 
Brunswick south, are in paper rolls in a wooden room on wooden racks. 
I hope the common sense of America will not long allow that to continue. 

As regards our interior work, we are the most backward in our general 
triangulation — I mean in its extent as compared with the work to be 
done — of all the great nations save only Russia. Indeed, India sets us 
a fine example by being ahead of us in the completeness and accuracy of 
geodetic surveys. 

So that the future of the Coast and Geodetic Survey is one of work, 
gentlemen. So far as lies in our power, you are going to have the tools 
with which to work. You have got some new ones. I believe you have 
got the confidence of the Nation. I believe you deserve that confidence. 
I know that with the tools and with the men much more can be done even 
than to equal the honorable past upon which you justly look with pride. 
I thank you. 

Mr. Jones : I have nothing to add to what the Secretary of Commerce 
has just said, except "amen." 

I have a message from one of our officials in Alaska : 

Sitka, Alaska, April 6, igi6. 
The Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

Congratulations on the century's achievements with greetings to the assembly from 
the Sitka Magnetic Observatory. 

J. W. Green. 

One from an officer who has been in this service nearly half a century, 
born in Sweden and recently decorated by its King: 

Sax Francisco, Cal., April 6, igi6. 
The Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

Congratulations to the Survey on its centennial celebration. Proud to have served 
it almost one-half of that period, and pledge continued loyalty to our distinguished 
service. 

Ferdinand Westdahl. 



134 U • •S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

From our inspector in Galveston : 

Galveston, Tex., April 6, igi6. 
The Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

Congratulations to all the officers and guests at the celebration of the one hundredth 
anniversary of the Survey. May they and it live long and prosper. Regret that I 
can not be with you. 

J. B. Boutelle. 

The next message is from one not now connected with the service, a 
retired naval captain, who has played a very important part in years gone 
by in carrying on to a successful conclusion the work allotted to him. 

San Francisco, Cal., April 5, igi6. 
E. Lester Jones, 

Superintendent . 
I regret exceedingly that distance alone prevents me from accepting your invitation 
to the banquet commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of your organization. 
My long service on Coast Survey detail permits me to extend sincere congratulations 
for eminent work performed, and my best wishes go with you for future success. 

Jefferson F. Moser. 
From the inspector at our New York office : 

New York, April 6, igi5. 
The Superintendent U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey: 

Impossible to be present in person, but my best wishes are with you as always. 

E. F. Dickins. 
From a former member of the division of geodesy, Republic of Mexico : 

Tacubaya, D. F., April 6, 1916. 
Coast Survey, Washington, D. C: , 

To the men of the Coast and Geodetic Survey of America who for 100 years studied 
to learn the size and shape of the earth. With them all was construction, not 
destruction. 

A. Leyva. 

A cablegram from our director at Manila : 

Manila, P. I., April 6, igi5. 
Coast Survey, Washington, D. C: 
All join centennial congratulations. 

F. Morse. 

A radiogram from our chief of party at Vieques, Porto Rico : 

Vieques, P. R., April 6, igi6. 
Coast Survey, Washington, D. C: 

Felicitations on completion of 100 years of valuable work. 

H. W. Pease. 

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a gentleman with us to-night who in 
past years has done much for the development of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. Although some years have passed since the period of his service, 
his efforts and what he accomplished are felt more each day. We are 
honored in having with us the senior former Superintendent. I take 
great pleasure in introducing to you Doctor Thomas Corwin Mendenhall. 



Centennial Celebration 135 

THE SUPERINTENDENTS OF TELE UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY 

Doctor MendEnhall: Mr. President, Your Excellency the Minister 
from Switzerland, Mr. Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Secretary of Commerce, 
Mr. Superintendent, members of the field and office force of the United 
States Coast and Geodetic Survey and their friends, the honor of being 
one of the speakers on this memorable occasion is highly appreciated, in 
spite of a perfect realization of the fact that it comes to me solely because 
I have had the fortune, good or bad, to survive my predecessors. To 
live long, according to a well-known proverb, is to prove that one is not a 
favorite of the gods; on the other hand, to live long is to furnish fairly 
good evidence that one has not been found guilty of a capital crime. 

During the past two days the various activities of this service have 
been so thoroughly discussed by competent critics that there is little 
room for further comment. As I am representing the men who directed 
these activities during the century of its existence, I choose to speak, not 
for them, but of them, the Superintendents of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, with some reference to their share in the development of the 
work. 

To the Republic of Switzerland American science is enormously 
indebted. Thence came Agassiz, Guyot, Lesquereux, and others who 
stirred us into scientific activity 50 years ago, and more than a half 
century earlier came Ferdinand Hassler, organizer and first Superin- 
tendent of the Coast Survey. No brief sketch can do justice to Hassler's 
personality or to his all-powerful influence in molding the character of 
the new organization, the first of the so-called "Scientific bureaus" of 
the United States Government. Educated in the best schools of Europe, 
intimately acquainted with the most eminent scientific men of the Old 
World and with experience in the trigonometrical survey of his native 
country, he possessed exactly the qualifications necessary to a successful 
launching of the new enterprise. Not the least of these qualifications 
was one rather rare among men of science, though common enough in the 
so-called "learned professions." With intellectual power and technical 
skill of the highest order he combined an equally high appreciation of his 
own merits. It is related that when invited to organize and direct the 
survey of the coasts, which had been strongly recommended to Congress 
by Thomas Jefferson, he demanded and received a salary equal to that of 
the head of the department to which the new bureau was assigned. 
Tempora Mutantur! There is also a tradition that when the President 
objected, saying, "Your salary is as large as that of my Secretary of the 
Treasury, your superior officer," he replied, "Any President can make a 
Secretary of the Treasury but only God Almighty can make a Hassler." 

Visiting Europe in 181 1 to purchase the necessary instruments and 
standards of measure, the execution of his mission was protracted to the 
close of 1815 by the outbreak of the war of 181 2, and thus a period of 



136 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

nearly 10 years elapsed between its authorization by act of Congress and 
the actual inception of the Survey. 

Hassler's plan of organization, broad and thoroughly worked out, is 
still the fundamental directing ordinance of the Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey. He provided for the division of its operations into three great 
groups, the geodetic, the topographic, and the hydrographic, and of these 
he considered the geodetic the most important as affecting the accuracy 
and final value of the results. In insisting upon a degree of precision in 
the execution of these operations hitherto undreamed of in this part of 
the world, he "set the pace" which the Survey has since maintained with 
such distinction and which it must continue to maintain if its future is to 
be worthy of its past. 

Naturally a man of his temperament was likely to come into occasional 
conflict with Government authorities, who were quite unable to appre- 
ciate the nature and demands of such a service. The very refinement 
in measure and computation, which was the chief merit of the work, 
came near being the undoing of Hassler, as it has, indeed, of more than 
one of his successors. In 1842 a congressional committee made a search- 
ing and unfriendly investigation of the Survey, during which, as one 
of its members confessed on the floor of the House, it was found that 
of the subject under consideration the Superintendent knew so much 
and the inquisitors so little that the committee was helpless in his hands. 
Although the work of this committee, like that of most of its successors, 
was an inquisition rather than an investigation, its report was practically 
a complete indorsement of the principles on which the Survey had been 
conducted by Hassler. His death occurred in the following year, but 
not before a complete and comprehensive plan for the continuation and 
expansion of the work had been outlined by him and approved by the 
President. 

The duty of executing this plan, of building upon the foundation laid 
by Hassler, fell to one who was everywhere acclaimed as the best fitted 
for the task. 

Alexander Dallas Bache had inherited through his grandmother, the 
famous "Sally Bache" of the Revolutionary period, only daughter of 
Benjamin Franklin, not only his distinguished ancestor's tastes for 
scientific pursuits but also much of his tact and skill as a diplomat, a 
quality that contributed in no small degree to his notable success as 
Superintendent. After graduating from West Point Military Academy 
at the age of 18 years, at the head of his class, with the extremely rare 
record of having completed the entire course without receiving a single 
demerit, he had enjoyed a wide experience in public service in various 
capacities, besides being actively engaged in important researches in 
magnetism and electricity. At the age of 37 years he had already won 
distinction as a scientific man of originality and power, and his appoint- 



Centennial Celebration 137 

ment as Hassler's successor was recommended by all of the principal 
scientific societies and institutions of learning in the country. His 
service extended over a period of almost exactly a quarter of a century, 
being terminated by his death in 1867. The splendid superstructure 
which Bache erected upon Hassler's foundation has received the highest 
praise from competent judges in all parts of the world. During his 
administration he was successful in securing the confidence of Congress, 
and the operations of the Survey were greatly extended. While keeping 
well in mind the practical results for the attainment of which the organ- 
ization was created, he had a keen eye for the purely scientific by- 
products, of which he gathered a great harvest. The distinguished 
mathematician and astronomer, Professor Benjamin Peirce, on assuming 
office as his successor said of the Coast Survey at the end of its first half 
century: "What it is, Bache has made it. It will never cease to be the 
admiration of the scientific world. It is only necessary conscientiously 
and faithfully to follow in his footsteps, imitate his example, and develop 
his plans." 

During the later years of Bache's administration Professor Peirce had 
directed the longitude operations of the Survey, acting also as a sort of 
general scientific adviser, and naturally his policy after becoming Super- 
intendent was essentially that of his predecessor. Many of the larger 
operations of the Coast Survey had been suspended during the Civil 
War, in which both the Superintendent and his assistants had played 
an important part. The execution of the primary triangulation on both 
the east and west coasts was resumed by Peirce and an exploration and 
survey of the newly acquired Territory of Alaska was begun. The most 
important act of his administration was the development of a plan for 
two gigantic chains of triangles extending across the continent, thus 
covering the whole country by a trigonometrical survey and joining the 
systems of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. This scheme received the 
approval of Congress and was in many respects the most remarkable 
work of its kind ever undertaken by any Government. 

Peirce had continued to hold his professorship in Harvard University 
and also kept up his many other activities, as a writer of textbooks, a 
frequent contributor to scientific journals, etc., and at the age of 65 years, 
doubtless finding his burden too heavy, he resigned the superintendence 
of the Survey in 1874, after a service of seven years, but he continued to 
act for a time as "consulting geometer." As a genius in mathematics 
and astronomy he is easily a star of first magnitude in the Coast Sur- 
vey galaxy. 

Peirce's successor was Carlile Pollock Patterson, naval officer and son 
of a naval officer. Previous to his appointment as Superintendent he 
had served for more than a dozen years as hydrographic inspector, an 
appointment usually held by a naval officer, active or retired. The 



138 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

general plans of the Survey as perfected by his predecessors were adhered 
to by Patterson, whose term as Superintendent covered a period of 
seven years, ending with his death in 1881. 

His successor, Julius Erasmus Hilgard, was brought at the age of 10 
years from his birthplace in Germany by his father, a highly educated 
and successful lawyer and jurist in his own country, who settled on a 
farm in Illinois near the city of St. Louis. Educated by his father, 
young Hilgard at the age of 18 years went to Philadelphia to study to 
be a civil engineer. There he soon attracted the attention of Professor 
Bache, who invited him to become one of his assistants in the Coast 
Survey. In 1845 he joined the corps, his connection with it terminating 
on his resignation in 1885 after 40 years of service. His industry and 
rare talents brought rapid promotion, and in 1862 he became assistant 
in charge of the office at Washington, a position then next in importance 
and responsibility to that of Superintendent. In this capacity he served 
for 19 years, until his appointment as Superintendent in 188 1. In the 
meantime his reputation had become international. He was one of the 
most influential members of the International Metric Commission that 
met in Paris in 1872; was made a member of its permanent committee, 
and on the organization of the International Bureau of Weights and 
Measures, with headquarters at Paris, he was offered the directorship. 
This honor he declined. By training, ability, and experience Hilgard 
was more completely fitted for the headship of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey than any other person who has ever served in that capacity, and it 
was unquestionably the goal which he had hoped to reach. Recommended 
for the appointment, as Bache had been 40 years earlier, by scientific 
men, learned societies, colleges, and universities, he began his administra- 
tion under the most favorable conditions. During earlier years his work 
justified the confidence reposed in him, but in the meantime, unknown 
to his friends and perhaps unsuspected by himself, he had become the 
victim of an insidious disease which weakened the power of both his will 
and his intellect. Undoubtedly advantage was taken of this fact by 
others, and an investigation of the affairs of the Survey brought to light 
certain irregularities in its business management which, although there 
had been no malversation of public funds for personal advantage, was 
nevertheless so inconsistent with proper bureau administration that it 
necessitated a change in the superintendency, and a long and brilliant 
career ended in almost a tragedy. 

The investigation referred to was made by a commission of three 
employees of the Treasury Department, with Frank Manly Thorn, chief 
clerk of Internal Revenue, as chairman. Mr. Thorn was placed tem- 
porarily in charge of the Survey in 1885 and afterwards, by appointment 
of the President, he continued to act as Superintendent until the close of 
the first Cleveland administration. The unprejudiced historian can not 
fail to accord to Mr. Thorn great credit for the way in which he managed 



Centennial Celebration 139 

the affairs of the Survey during this trying period. Inspired by a pros- 
pect of participating in the spoils of office, a number of witnesses had 
volunteered testimony that was either grossly misleading or absolutely 
false, and this had been incorporated in the report of the commission of 
which he was chairman, along with a severe arraignment of the business 
methods of the Survey and of the integrity of several of its principal 
officers. A man of sterling integrity, he had the courage to revise the 
report of his commission by innumerable additions and annotations, 
practically vindicating the men against whom charges had been made, 
most of which were merely technical. During the nearly four years of 
his administration he learned much about the methods and requirements 
of such a service as the Coast and Geodetic Survey of which in the 
beginning he had been totally ignorant. 

In spite of the unwholesome conditions existing in the beginning of 
Thorn's administration the operations of the Survey were continued 
without serious interruption and much important work was accom- 
plished. 

A much more regrettable state of affairs prevailed during a consider- 
able period of the administration of General William Ward Duffield, who 
served as Superintendent for about three years following his appoint- 
ment in. the autumn of 1894. Not only was the influence of the spoils- 
man again paramount, but for some unexplainable reason a number of 
men were dismissed from the force whose places could not be filled from 
any source whatever. Men of long and faithful sendee whose reputation 
was international were lost to the Survey at that time, though a few were 
afterwards reappointed. It is charitable to assume that the Superin- 
intendent, who was by profession a civil engineer with a record of good 
service in the Civil War, had passed the years of discretion before receiv- 
ing his appointment. That the partial paralysis by which the service 
was then afflicted did not become complete was due entirely to an 
unwavering loyalty to its best traditions on the part of those who 
remained. 

The historian would gladly pass over these unpleasant episodes, but 
a due regard for the good name and fame of many individuals involved 
demands brief reference to them. 

I come now to the living whose connection with the service is quite 
within the memory of most of those interested, and of whose work 
little need be said. There are times when brevity is not only the soul of 
wit but also the essence of discretion. 

Upon Henry Smith Pritchett, astronomer and son of an astronomer, 
fell the task of making a complete reorganization of the hydrographic 
operations of the Survey. From the earliest days these operations had 
been carried on almost entirely by naval officers detailed for that pur- 
pose, but during the War with Spain such details became impossible. 
The difficult problem thus presented was solved with marked success 



14° U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

by Pritchett, and this reorganization, though but one of many notable 
things accomplished during his comparatively short term, from 1897 to 
1900, must be regarded, I think, as the most important act of his admin- 
st ration. 

The appointment of Otto Hilgard Tittmann as successor to Pritchett 
on the resignation of the latter was an event predetermined by his long 
connection with the service, which began in 1867, when he was 17 years 
old, and continued without interruption for almost a half century, to 
his resignation in 191 5. Inheriting through his mother the scientific 
tastes and special talents of the Hilgards, with successful experience in 
nearly every one of the various operations of the Survey, including 
many years as assistant in charge of the office and Assistant Superin- 
tendent, his remarkable career ended with the longest term as Superin- 
tendent since the time of Hassler and Bache. Under his direction 
the Survey advanced with great strides and so many important things 
were accomplished that it is difficult to select even one for mention in 
this brief review, but among those of first rank will surely be found his 
personal and official services in representing the United States on numer- 
ous international commissions and boundary tribunals. 

I am tempted to overstep the bounds laid down for me, to pay my tribute 
to the ability, faithfulness, and loyalty with which the assistants of the 
Superintendent have almost invariably supported him in the discharge of 
difficult and often disagreeable duties. And I use the term " assistant" 
as including not only those employed in the field but also the office force, 
the computers, draftsmen, engravers, printers, mechanicians, clerks, etc., 
through whose hands all of the work of the field officers must pass before 
it becomes useful to the public. Without this support the ablest chief 
could accomplish little or nothing. I would like especially to speak of a 
few of the veterans of my own time who have passed away ; of Whiting, 
who, beginning with Hassler, had served for more than a half century 
and under every Superintendent up to the day of his death; of Davidson, 
the oracle of the Pacific coast, whose service was nearly as long; of Schott, 
the severe but just judge at the head of the computing division; of 
Mosman, Fairfield, Eimbeck, Ogden, Granger, Preston, Mitchell, Smith, 
Rodgers, and others ; it is a long roll but it is a roll of honor in the annals 
of the Survey. To them and to many others, happily still living, I owe 
a debt of gratitude for their loyal cooperation and support. 

I should like very much to speak more than briefly of the many famous 
men who have been at various times closely associated with the Survey 
as a part of its working force, with some of whom it was the beginning 
of a brilliant career; of the great artists, Whistler and Harrison; of the 
great scholars, Aggasiz, Ferrell, the two Peirces, and others; of Blake, the 
inventor, and of many others who rose to distinction in one way or an- 
other, but in this I must not indulge. 

I desire also to testify to the great importance to the Service of the 
cooperation of the Army and Navy, especially in the detail of officers 



Centennial Celebration 141 

from the Corps of Engineers of the Army in the early days and from 
the Navy during many years for special duty under the Superintendent, 
to whom they were, almost without exception, unselfishly loyal. 

If I could summon their spirits from the "vasty deep" I am sure those 
of the former Superintendents who are dead would join with those who 
are living in congratulating their successor, who has recently been 
charged with the responsibility of directing its operations, on the thor- 
oughly trained and competent corps of assistants who will aid him in 
carrying the Coast and Geodetic Survey into its second century. But 
perhaps even more important than these will be the traditions of a hun- 
dred years, which he will not lightly put aside. 

The Survey has often been the object of adverse criticism, based on 
ignorance of the character of its work, because of the slowness of. some 
of its operations. It is to its everlasting credit that as far as known no 
one has ever found fault with it for not keeping its work up to the highest 
standard attainable at the time. 

Not "How much" but "How well" has been its criterion. 

It is only by persistently adhering to standards of quality rather than 
quantity that it will continue to be as it was in the middle, and still is at 
the end, of its first century, "The admiration of the scientific world." 

Mr. Jones: Realizing to the fullest extent the many cares already 
oppressing our next speaker, -I yet had the temerity to ask him to be with 
us to-night and speak. He very kindly granted my request, only asking 
that he speak last, so that in case anybody "started anything" he might 
have his opportunity; he is the best judge of whether anything has been 
"started." 

The Coast Survey had its beginning under President Jefferson, of 
Virginia, and it is a very happy coincidence that we round out the 
century under another President from the State of Virginia. I feel it 
the greatest honor to introduce to you the President of the United States. 

ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

The President: Mr. Minister, Mr. Superintendent, ladies, and gentle- 
men, I had another reason for asking to come last. I remember reading 
with appreciation in the preface of a volume of essays written by a very 
witty English writer a passage to this effect, "The pleasure with which a 
man reads his own books is largely dependent upon how much of them 
has been written by somebody else;" and I have found that my enjoy- 
ment of making speeches after dinner is almost directly in proportion 
to the amount of inspiration that I can derive from others. 

It was manifestly impossible for me to make such preparation for 
addressing you to-night as I should have wished to make in order to 
show my very great respect and admiration for this service of the 
Government. I can only say that I have come here for the purpose of 
expressing that admiration. I have been very much interested in the 



142 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

speeches that I have heard to-night, not only because of what they 
contained but also because of many of the implications which were to 
be drawn from them. I was v ( ery much interested indeed in the excellent 
address of the representative of the free and admirable Republic of 
Switzerland. He reminded us of what we must constantly remember, 
our very great intellectual debt to Switzerland, as well as to the many 
other countries from which we draw so much of our vitality and so much 
of the scientific work which has been accomplished in America. 

As he was speaking, I was reminded (if there are Pennsylvanians 
present, I hope they will forgive this story) of a toast mischievously 
offered at a banquet in Philadelphia by a gentleman who was not himself 
a Pennsylvanian. He said he proposed the memory of the three most 
distinguished Pennsylvanians — Benjamin Franklin, of Massachusetts; 
James Wilson, of Scotland; and Albert Gallatin, of Switzerland, I dare 
say that in many American communities similar toasts could very truly 
and with historical truth be offered. And I myself had the privilege of 
sitting under one of the distinguised Swiss scholars to whom reference 
was made, Doctor Arnold Guyot, under whom I pretended to study 
geology. Doctor Guyot was not responsible for its not being carried 
beyond the stage of pretense. 

I feel myself in a certain sense in familiar company to-night because a 
very great part of my life has been spent in association with men of 
science. I have often wished, particularly since I entered public life, 
that there was some moral process parallel to the process of triangulation, 
so that the whereabouts, intellectually and spiritually, of some persons 
could be discovered with more particularity. Yet as I listened to the 
Secretary of Commerce, I suspected that he was priding himself upon 
the discovery of a process by which he had discovered the whereabouts 
of a great many committees of Congress and a great many other persons 
connected with the process of appropriating public moneys. I have a 
certain sympathy with those committees of Congress which in investi- 
gating the Coast and Geodetic Survey have found that the Superintendent 
had the great advantage of knowing all about the service and they the 
great disadvantage of knowing nothing about it, because, as I have said, 
I have spent a great part of my life in association with men of science 
and, never having been a man of science, I have at least learned the 
discretion of keeping my opinion on scientific subjects to myself. 

I have had association particularly with the very exact and singularly 
well-informed brother of a distinguished gentlemen present . General Scott 
has a brother who is a member of the faculty of Princeton University, and 
Professor William B. Scott is one of the most provoking men I have ever 
known. He not only asserts opinions and delivers himself of information 
upon almost every subject, but the provoking thing about him is he 
generally knows what he is talking about. A good talker who volunteers 
opinions on all subjects ought to be expected in fairness to his fellow men 



Centennial Celebration 143 

to make a certain large and generous portion of mistakes, because you can 
at least catch him napping, but Professor Scott is one of those men who 
successfully — I have sometimes told him I suspected adroitly — avoided 
the pitfalls of eminent conversationalists like himself; but association 
with such men has taught me a very great degree of discretion and, 
therefore, I am not going to express any opinion whatever about the 
work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey ; but I am going to give myself 
the privilege, for it is a real privilege, of saying this: This is one of the 
few branches of the public service in which the motives of those who 
are engaged can not be questioned. There is something very intensely 
appealing to the imagination in the intellectual ardor which men bestow 
upon scientific inquiry. No social advantage can be gained by it. No 
pecuniary advantage can be gained by it. In most cases no personal 
distinction can be gained by it. It is one of the few pursuits in life 
which gets all its momentum from pure intellectual ardor, from a love of 
finding out what the truth is, regardless of all human circumstances — as 
if the mind wished to put itself into intimate communication with the 
mind of the Almighty itself. There is something in scientific inquiry 
which is eminently spiritual in its nature. It is the spirit of man wishing 
to square himself accurately with his environment not only, but also 
wishing to get at the intimate interpretations of his relationship to his 
environment ; and when you think of what the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
has been attempting to do — to make a sort of profile picture, a sort of 
profile sketch, of the life of a nation, so far as that life is physically sus- 
tained — you can see that what we have been doing has been, so to say, to 
test and outline the whole underpinning of a great civilization, and just as 
the finding of all the outlines of the earth's surface that underlie the sea 
is a process of making the pathways for the great intercourse which has 
bound nations together, so the work that we do upon the continent itself 
is the work of interpreting and outlining the conditions which surround 
the life of a great nation. 

I can illustrate it in this way, the way in which it appeals to my imagi- 
nation: I have always maintained that it was a great mistake to begin 
a history of the United States intended for beginners by putting at the 
front of the book a topographical map of this continent, or at any rate 
of that portion of it which is occupied by the United States, because if 
you begin with that you seem to begin to deal with children when you 
deal with the first settlers. They knew nothing about it. They expected 
to find the Pacific over the slope of the Alleghenies. They expected to 
find some Eldorado at the sources of the first great river whose mouth 
they entered upon the coast. They went groping for the outlines of 
the continent like blind men feeling their way through a jungle. They 
were as big men as we, as intelligent ; they had as full a grasp upon the 
knowledge of their time as we have upon the knowledge of ours ; but set 
the youngster in the school to watch these men groping and he will get 



144 U . S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

the impression that they were children and pigmies. That is not the 
way to begin the history of the United States. You will understand it 
only if you comprehend how little of what the work of this department 
of the Government, for example, has since disclosed was known to those 
then engaged in this great romantic enterprise of peopling a new continent 
and building up a new civilization in a new world. 

So that you have the picture of a service like this lifting the curtain 
that before that time rested upon all the great spaces of nature. You 
remember how in the early history of Virginia a little company of gen- 
tlemen moved by a sort of scientific curiosity, and yet moved by a spirit 
of adventure still more, penetrated no farther than to some of the 
unknown fastnesses of the Allegheny Mountains and were thereafter 
known as the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe — given a sort of knight- 
hood of adventure because they went a little way upon the same quest 
upon which you gentlemen have gone a great way. 

So when I stand in the presence of scientific men I seem to stand in 
the presence of those who are given the privilege, the singular privilege, 
the almost contradictory privilege, of following a vision of the mind with 
open, physical eyes; making real the things that have been conjectural; 
making substantial the things that have been intangible. 

And as the Secretary of Commerce has said, there is a great human side 
to the things that you are doing. You are making it safe to bind the 
world together with those great shuttles that we call ships that move in 
and out and weave the fabric of international intercourse. You are 
providing the machinery by which the web of humanity is woven. It is 
only by these imaginative conceptions, it is only by visions of the mind, 
that we are inspired. If we thought about each other too much, our 
little jealousies, our rivalries, our smallnesses, our weaknesses, there 
would be no courage left in our hearts. 

Sometimes when the day is done and the consciousness of the sordid 
struggle is upon you, you go to bed wondering if the sun will seem bright 
in the morning, the day worth while, but you have only to sweep these 
temporary things away and to look back and see mankind working its 
way, though never so slowly, up the slow steps which it has climbed to 
know itself and to know nature and nature's God, and to know the 
destiny of mankind, to have all these little things seem like the mere 
mists that creep along the ground, and have all the courage come back 
to you by lifting your eyes to those blue heavens where rests the serenity 
of thought. 

Mr. Jones: In bringing this notable occasion to a close I voice the 
heartfelt thanks of the members of the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey to the President, to the Minister of Switzerland, to the ladies 
and the gentlemen, who have helped to make these ceremonies such a 
success. I hope the next century will be as fruitful as the past. I thank 
you all, and good night. 



Centennial Celebration 



145 



LIST OF THOSE ATTENDING THE BANQUET ON APRIL C, 1916, AT THE NEW WILLARD 
HOTEL 



Abbot, Charles Greeley. 

Adams, Franklin Lancelot. 

Adams, John W. 

Adamson, Representative William C. 

Albert, Charles S. 

Alford, J. Warren. 

Allen, Harlan Coffeen. 

Avers, Henry Godfrey. 

B. 

Bache, Rene. 

Bacon, Harlow. 

Baker, Charles Whiting. 

Baldwin, Albert LeSuer. 

Barnard, Edward Chester. 

Barnette, Dudley Portieuz, jr. 

Bauer, Louis Agricola. 

Baylor, James Bowen. 

Bell, Alexander Graham. 

Benedict, James Everard. 

Bennett, Ira E. 

Berman, Jacob. 

Berman, Louis. 

Berryman, Clifford Kennedy. 

Bertholf, Captain E. P. (U. S. C. G.) 

Bien, Morris. 

Blanchard, Clarence J. 

Borland, Representative William P. 

Bower, Ward T. 

Bowie, William. 

Braid, Andrew. 

Brand, Edward A. 

Brigham, William E. 

Brooks, Alfred Hulse. 

Brooks, Daniel Hazard Lyman. 

Brown, Owsley. 

Burger, William Henry. 

Buttenheim, Arthur W. 



Capstick, Representative John H. 
Carlin, Representative Charles Creighton. 
Castles, Percy Bennett. 
Chapman, Robert H. 
Childs, Samuel S. 
Chilton, William Brent. 
Church, Earl Frank. 
Clark, Austin H. 
Clarke, Frank Wigglesworth. 
44282°— 16 10 



Clarke, Herbert C. O. 
Colonna, Benjamin Azariah. 
Conway, John Sebastian. 



Dall, William Healey. 
Davis, Arthur Powell. 
Davis, Frank F. 
Davis, George R. 
Day, Arthur Louis. 
Deetz, Charles Henry. 
Derickson, Richard Barnett. 
Donlon, Alphonsus John. 
Dorsey, Noah Ernest. 
Douglas, Edward M. 
Do vale, Arthur. 
Duvall, Charles Raymond. 

E. 

Edes, William C. 

Eichelberger, Professor William S. 

Ela, Arthur John. 

Ellis, Edmund Percy. 

Ennis, Carroll Christopher. 

Ewing, Thomas. 



Fairbank, Herbert S. 

Fairfield, Walter Browne. 

Faris, Robert Lee. 

Fischer, Louis Albert. 

Fitzgerald, Representative John Joseph, 

Flemer, John Adolph. 

Fleming, John Adam. 

Flower, George Lewis. 

Ford, Chester Arthur. 

Forney, Stehman. 

French, Owen Bert. 



Gamble, Henry Stanley. 
Gannett, Samuel S. 
Garner, Clem Leinster. 
Gerdine, Thomas G. 
Giacomini, Alfred Lewis. 
Gilbert, John Jacob. 
Gillett, James Norris. 
Goldbeck, Albert T. 
Gore, James Howard. 
Graves, Henry Solon. 



146 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 



Graves, Herbert Cornelius. 
Grayson, Cary T. (Passed Assistant Sur- 
geon, U. S. N.). 
Gregory, Henderson B. 
Griffin, James Madison. 
Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey. 
Guerin, W. C. 

H. 
Hall, Professor Asaph. 
Harper, Robert N. 
Harsch, Erwin. 
Hastings, Clifford. 
Hawley, Jean Hodgkins. 
Hazard, Daniel Lyman. 
Hazard, Peyton Randolph. 
Heck, Nicholas Hunter. 
Henderson, John R. 
Henry, Nicholas Goldsborough. 
Herron, W. J. 
Hildreth, David Merrill. 
Hill, Jesse. 

Hodgkins, Howard Lincoln. 
Holmes, William Henry. 
Hoogewerff, Captain J. A. (U. S. N.). 
Hoover, W. M. 
Howard, Leland Ossian. 
Howe, Charles Sumner. 
Hoyt, John C. 
Humphreys, William Jackson. 

J- 

Jacoway, Representative Henderson M. 

Jervis, R. L. 

Johannes, George. 

Johnson, Douglas Wilson. 

Johnson, Frank M. 

Johnson, William Evans. 

Johnston, Ralph Lowe. 



Kahn, Representative Julius. 

Kane, Lieutenant Colonel A. J. Gordon 

(U.S. A., retired). 
Keen, Doctor William Williams. 
King, Harold Davis. 
King, William Fletcher. 
Kutz, Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. (U. 

S.A.). 

L. 

La Gorce, John Oliver. 

Lambe, B. H. 

Latham, Ector Brooks. 

Lauchheimer, Colonel C. H. (U.S.M.C). 

Leland, Ora Miner. 



Littcll, Frank Bowers. 
Littlehales, George Washington. 
Luce, Gardiner. 
Luce, Robert Francis. 
Luellan, T. W. 



McArthur, Representative Clifton N. 

McClellan, David P. 

McCoy, Justice Walter Irving. 

McGrath, John Edward. 

McGuire, James William. 

Mackenzie, William. 

Mann, Representative James R. 

Manning, Van. H. 

Martin, Admiral J. A. (Argentine Navy). 

Martin, Edward Richards. 

Marvin, Charles Frederick. 

Marvin, George. 

Mellett, Lowell. 

Mendenhall, Thomas Corwin. 

Mendenhall, Walter Curran. 

Merrill, George Perkins. 

Miller, Representative Clarence B. 

Minister of Switzerland. 

Moffatt, Edgar V. 

Mondell, Representative Frank W. 

Moore, Henry Frank. 

Moore, Representative J. Hampton. 

Moorefield, Charles H. 

Morrison, Lee. 

Mourhess, Charles Albert. 

Murphy, Joseph. 

N. 



Nevin, John Edwin. 



O. 



Olsen, Harry E. 
Owen, Frederick D. 

P. 

Pagenhart, Edwin Herbert. 

Parker, William Edward. 

Parsons, Francis H. 

Patten, Henry B. 

Patterson, John Fulton. 

Patton, Raymond Stanton. 

Paullin, Charles Oscar. 

Peabody, William Frederick. 

Peary, Rear Admiral Robert Edwin 

(U. S. N., retired). 
Perkinson, Ernest V. 
Peters, William John. 



Centennial Celebration 



147 



Phelan, John Joseph. 
Poindexter, Senator Miles. 
Poor, Charles Lane. 
Potter, Leon Archie. 
Powell, John Dalrymple. 
Pratt, Edward Irving. 
President of the United States. 
Purves, Thomas B. 
Putnam, George Rockwell. 

R. 

Rathbun, Richard. 
Raynor, Leroy Preston. 
Reeder, C. Howard. 
Reynolds, J. J. 
Reynolds, Walter Ford. 
Riggs, Thomas, jr. 
Ritter, Homer Peter. 
Robinson, Senator Joseph T. 
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. 
Rose, Joseph Ferdinand. 
Ross, Raymond Lawrence. 



Saegmuller, George N. 

Sanger, William. 

Schroeder, Rear Admiral Seaton (U.S.N., 

retired). 
Schureman, Paul. 
Scott, Major General H. L. 
Secretary- of Commerce. 
Secretary of the Navy. 
Sherley, Representative Swagar. 
Shoemaker, Louis P. 
Shore, Francis M. 

Siems, Frederick Bernhard Theodore. 
Sinclair, Cephas Hempstone. 
Smallwood, John B. 
Smith, Frank. 
Smith, George Otis. 
Smith, George Williamson. 
Smith, Glen S. 
Smith, Hugh McCormick. 
Smith, U. Grant. 
Snowden, Llewellyn M. 
Snyder, Edgar C. 
Steinberg, Max. 
Stellwagen, Edward J. 
Stidham, Harrison. 
Stratton, Samuel Wesley. 
Strong, H. C. 
Superintendent, Coast and Geodetic 

Survey. 



Sutton, Frank. 

Swann, William Francis Gray. 

Swem, Charles L. 



Taliaferro, Thomas H. 

Tallman, Clay. 

Thomas, Joseph B. 

Thurman, Albert Lee. 

Tittmann, Charles Trowbridge. 

Tittmann, Otto Hilgard. 

Torrey, John Day. 

Towner, Representative Horace Mann. 

Tumulty, Joseph P. 



Ulrich, Edward Oscar. 

V. 

Van Orstrand, Charles Edward. 
Van Wagenen, James Herbert. 
Vaughn, T. Wayland. 

W. 

Wainwright, Dallas Bache. 

Wainwright, Rear Admiral Richard 

(U.S.N., retired). 
Walcott, Charles Doolittle. 
Walker, Albert M. 
Wallis, William Fisher. 
Warren, Frank M. 
Wasserbach, Theodore. 
Welker, Philip Albert. 
Wendt, Edwin Frederick. 
White, David. 
White, William H. 
Whitman, William Ross. 
Widmer, Jules Adolph. 
Wines, Marshall W. 
Winslow, Carlile Patterson. 
Winslow, Representative Samuel E. 
Winston, George Otis. 
Winston, Isaac. 
Woodis, Fred Albert. 
Woods, Elliott. 
Wurdemann, Frank Gustave. 
Wyvill, Edward Hale. 



Voting, Frederick A. 



Z. 



Zook, Morris A. 



148 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




Centennial Celebration 



149 




15° 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




Centennial Celebration 



151 




FIG. 19— FERDINAND RUDOLPH HASSLER, SUPERINTEND- 
ENT OF THE COAST SURVEY, JUNE 18, 1816, TO APRIL 29, 
1818, AND AUGUST 9, 1832, TO NOVEMBER 20, 1843 



152 



S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 20.-ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST 
SURVEY, DECEMBER 12, 1843, TO FEBRUARY 17, 1867 



Centennial Celebration 



153 




FIG. 21.— BENJAMIN PEIRCE. SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST SURVEY, FEBRUARY 
26, 1867, TO FEBRUARY 16, 1874 



154 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 22— CARLILE POLLOCK PATTERSON, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND 
GEODETIC SURVEY, FEBRUARY 17, 1874, TO AUGUST 15, 1881 



Centennial Celebration 



155 




FIG. 23.— JULIUS ERASMUS HILGARD, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND GEO- 
DETIC SURVEY, DECEMBER 22, 1881, TO JULY 23, 1885 



156 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 24.— FRANK MANLY THORN, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1885, TO JUNE 30, 1889 



Centennial Celebration 



>1 




25— THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST 
GEODETIC SURVEY, JULY 9, 1889, TO SEPTEMBER 20, 1894 



158 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




-WILLIAM WARD DUFFIELD, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND GEO- 
DETIC SURVEY, DECEMBER 11, 1894, TO NOVEMBER 30, 1897 



Centennial Celebration 



159 




FIG. 27.— HENRY SMITH PRITCHETT, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND GEO- 
DETIC SURVEY, DECEMBER 1, 1897, TO NOVEMBER 30, 1900 



i6o 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




28— OTTO HILGARD TITTMANN, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND GEO- 
DETIC SURVEY, DECEMBER 1, 1900, TO APRIL 14, 1915 



Centennial Celebration 



;6i 




FIG. 29.— ERNEST LESTER JONES, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE COAST AND GEODETIC 
SURVEY, APRIL 15, 1915 



MISCELLANEOUS 



CONGRATULATORY LETTERS FROM FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS 

The following are translations of letters received by the Superin- 
tendent : 

Madrid, Spain, April 12, igi6. 

The Secretary of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences pre- 
sents his regards to the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the United 
States of North America, together with his most cordial congratulations on the celebra- 
tion of the centenary of the aforesaid institution, at the same time thanking him for 
the invitation. 

Don Francesco de P. Arrillaga takes the opportunity to again express to the Super- 
intendent his most respectful consideration. 

Paris, France, April 12, igi6. 

The Inspector General of Mines, Member of the Institute, Director of the Bureau of 
Leveling of France, has the honor to thank the Superintendent of the Coast and Geo- 
detic Survey for the very kind invitation, which he received only to-day, for the com- 
memorative banquet, given the 6th of April last, on the occasion of the centenary of 
that great service. He regrets very much indeed that neither the distance nor the 
time has permitted him to be present and to express publicly at Washington the high 
esteem in which is held in France the splendid work of the largest and oldest institu- 
tion in the New World dedicated to geodesy and hydrography. 

To his regrets, he adds, for the Superintendent and his colleagues, the assurance of 
his most respectful fraternal sentiments. 

Ch. Lallemand. 

Geneva, Switzerland, May 6, 1916. 
Superintendent of U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

Washington , D. C. 

Esteemed Colleague: Your kind invitation to be present at the banquet in com- 
memoration of the hundredth anniversary of the organization of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey of the United States of America reached me a few days ago. In the present 
circumstances it would have been very difficult for a European to take part, but I am 
glad of this opportunity to extend to you, in the name of my country, which I have the 
honor to represent in the International Geodetic Association, our best wishes for the 
second century of activity of your service. 

The people of Switzerland will be happy to know that among the orators heard on 
April 6, next to the Chief Executive, was the Swiss minister at Washington. It is an 
honor for our small and old Republic to have been thus called on to participate in the 
commemoration of a centenary which honors the work and fruitful activity of an official 
scientific service organized in its great sister Republic on the other side of the Atlantic. 

I have not yet, esteemed colleague, the pleasure of knowing you personally, but I 
am sure that the excellent relations that I had established with your predecessor, Mr. 
Tittmann, will continue with you. 

Please accept the expression of my distinguished consideration. 

Raoul Gautier. 
162 



Centennial Celebration 163 

Madrid, Spain, April 11, igi6. 
The Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

Sir: I have just received }-our kind invitation to the banquet which took place on 
the 6th of April in commemoration of the first centenary of the organization of the 
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and I desire to express to you my most sin- 
cere thanks for your courtesy. 

Will you accept, sir, the expression of my deepest respect. 

Eduardo Mier, 
President of the Council of the Geographic Service. 



Leyden, April 22, iqi6. 

Dear Sir: I received only to-day your kind invitation to attend the banquet, 
held April 6 of this year, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

I have the pleasure to express my sincere thanks for the honor you have done to 
me by that invitation, and my best congratulations. But I may be allowed to express 
at the same time my great admiration for what the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey has done during the past period, not only on behalf of the United States, 
but in behalf of science in general. 

In different parts of geodesy it was the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
which has introduced new methods and made new researches for obtaining new and 
better results, and has given the example, both for observations and for theoretical 
work, which has been followed in other countries and has furthered in a high degree 
our knowledge of the form, the constitution, and the motions of the earth. 

From all that has been done till now, I am convinced that my sincere wish will be 
realized, that in the new century it has entered the United States Coast and Geodetic 
Survey will continue to bring for science new interesting results. 

I have the honor to be, sir, 

Yours, sincerely, H. G. van de Sande Bakhuyzen. 

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY EXHIBITS IN NEW NATIONAL MUSEUM, 
APRIL 5 TO APRIL 9, 1916 

Astronomical Transit No. 20. Made by Bamberg; most recent type, 1914. (See 
illustrations Nos. 1 and 2, Special Publication No. 35.) 

Astronomical Transit No. 19. Employed in principal longitude determinations, 
1888-1913; designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office. (See illustration No. 1, 
Special Publication, No. 14.) 

Portable Astronomical Transit No. 3. Made by Troughton & Simms, 1847. (See 
figure 30.) 

Chronograph. Fuess type, 1914. (See illustration No. 3, Special Publication 
No. 35-) 

Chronograph No. 6. Bond spring governor. 

Hipp Chronograph No. 3753. 

Chronograph Sheet and Scale. (See illustration No. 7, Special Publication 
No. 14.) 

Chronograph No. ir. (See illustration No. 6, Special Publication No. 14.) 

Zenith Telescope No. 4. Troughton & Simms, makers; purchased, 1849; recon- 
structed in C. & G. S. Office, 1891. (See illustration No. 13, Special Publication 
No. 14.) 

Davidson Meridian Telescope No. 3. Designed and constructed in the C. & G. S. 
Office. (vSee sketch No. 28, C. S. Report for 1867.) 

Troughton Repeating Circle. Made by Troughton in 1814. (See figure 31.) 

Compass Declinometer No. 7. (Designed and constructed in C. &G.S. Office, 1914.) 

Ship's Dip Circle No. 32. Made by Dover, 1903; Lloyd-Creak Model. (See illus- 
tration No. 1, App. No. 3, C. & G. S. Report, 1904.) 



164 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Bache Magnetometer. Made byGambey; employed in magnetic survey of Penn- 
sylvania, 1840-1843; first State magnetic survey made in the United States. (See 
figures 32 and 33.) 

Magnetometer No. 17. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office, 1893. (See 
fig. 3, Directions for Magnetic Measurements.) 

Bache-Wurdemann Compensation Base Apparatus. Designed and constructed 
in C. S. Office, 1845; employed from 1847 to 1873. (See figure 34.) 

Schott Five-Meter Compensation Base Apparatus. Designed and constructed 
in C. & G. S. Office, 1880-1881. (See figure 35.) 

Secondary Base Bar No. 13. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office, 1891; 
employed, 1891 to 1897. (See figure 36.) 

Eimbeck Duplex Base Bar. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office, 1893. 
(See illustration No. 5, App. No. 11, C. & G. S. Report, 1897.) 

Section of Invar Base Tape, Held by Tape Stretchers. C. & G. S. design. 
(See illustrations Nos. 4 and 5, App. No. 14, C. & G. S. Report, 1910.) 

Invar Base Tape. Introduced in 1906. (See illustration No. 1, Special Publica- 
tion No. 14.) 

Theodolite, Twelve Inch No. 168. Type now in use, introduced in 1893. (See 
illustration No. 2, Special Publication No. 19.) 

Theodolite, Twenty Inch, No. 4. Made by Troughton & Simms. Use of this type 
discontinued in 1898. (See figure 37.) 

Theodolite, Twenty-Four Inch, No. 2. Made by Troughton in 1814. (See 
figure 38.) 

Vertical Circle, Eight Inch, No. 109. Made by Brunner. (See illustration No. 
5, Special Publication No. 19.) 

Tittmann Vertical Collimator No. 6. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. 
Office. (See illustration No. 3a, Special Publication No. 19.) 

Heliotrope. Type now in use . (See illustration No. 3b, Special Publication No. 19.) 

Signal Lamp, Kerosene. Old type, discontinued. 

Signal Lamp No. ioi, Acetylene. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office, 
in 1905. (See illustration No. 3c, Special Publication No. 19.) 

Signal Lamp No. 150, Electric. Designed and constructed in C. &G. S. Office in 1916. 

Batteries for Signal Lamps. 

Theodolite, Seven Inch, No. 263. Made by Berger & Sons, 1913. (See illustra- 
tion No. 19, Special Publication No. 14.) 

Theodolite, Four Inch, No. 257. Made by Berger & Sons, 1911. (See illustra- 
tion No. 20, Special Publication No. 14.) 

Photographs of the Tide- Predicting Machine No. 2. Designed and constructed 
in C. & G. S. Office; completed in 1910. (See illustration No. 14, Special Publi- 
cation No. 23, and illustrations Nos. 6 to 14, Special Publication No. 32.) 

Ship's Bell. From steamer McArthur, first Coast Survey steamer built on the Pacific 
coast; built in 1876; retired from service in 1915. 

Tide-Predicting Machine No. i. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office; 
used from 1882 to 1912. (See illustrations Nos. 27-31, App. 10. C. & G. S. Report 
1883; also illustration No. 5, Special Publication No. 32.) 

Mean Time Chronometer No. 1829. 

Taffrail Log. 

Deep-Sea Sounding Apparatus. Bassnett model. 

Current Meter. Ekman model. 

Ship's Clock. 

Sounding Clock. 

Lead and Sounding Line. 

Tide-Gauge Sheet. 

Sheet from Tide-Predicting Machine. (See illustration No. 15, Special Publi- 
cation No. 32.) 



Centennial Celebration 165 

C. &G. S. Tide Tables, 1855 to I0I °- Second and latest editions of this publication. 

Hydrographic Sextant No. 418. Made by Heath & Son, 1915. 

Registering Sheaves. 

Ship's Compass No. 25052. Ritchie Liquid Compass model. 

Boat Compass. 

Automatic Tide Guage No. 94. Keuffel & Esser, makers, 1910; type of instrument 

designed in Coast Survey. (See illustrations Nos. 4 and 5, App. No. 7, C. & G. 

S. Report 1897.) 
Three-Arm Protractor. 
Court's Protractor. 

Htlgard Optical Densimeter. Designed in C. & G. S. Office. 
Sounding Tubes. Tanner-Blish model. 
Hydrographic Theodolite. 

Map of Rock Creek Park, D. C. Made by C. & G. Survey. 
Model of Rock Creek Park, D. C. Made by C. & G. Survey. 
Phototopographic Camera No. 10. Berger & Sons, makers, 1904. 
Plane Table and Alidade. Modern type. (See illustration No. i, App. 7, C. & 

G. S. Report, 1905.) 
Plane Table and Alidade. Old type. 
Telemeter Rod. Old type. (See illustration No. 4, App. No. 7, C. & G. S. Report 

1905-) 

Telemeter Rod. New type. 

Mendenhall Half-Second Pendulum. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. 
Office, 1891. (See illustration No. 18, Special Publication No. 23.) 

Bessel Pendulum. Constructed by Repsold, 1874-1875; used for observations in 
Europe and the United States between 1875 an ^ 1878. (See illustration No. 28, 
App. 15, C. & G. S. Report, 1876.) 

Pendulums, Three-Old Types. Peirce.oryard, pendulum, used in Caroline Islands, 
1883, and in Hawaii, 1886; Kater pendulum No. 9, used in Hoosac Tunnel work; 
Silver Kater pendulum. (See illustration No. 20, Special Publication No. 23.) 

Geodetic Level No. 6 (Intermediate Type). Designed and constructed in C. & 
G. S. Office in 1898. (See illustrations Nos. 7 and 8, App. No. 8, C. & G. S. Re- 
port 1899.) 

Fischer Geodetic Level No. 8. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office; in 
use 1899-1916. (See illustrations Nos. 1 and 2, Special Publication No. 18.) 

Tittmann Geodetic Level No. i. Designed and constructed in C. & G. S. Office; 
in use 1879 to 1899. (See illustration No. 52, App. No. 15, C. & G. S. Report 
1879.) 

Geodetic Level Rod. Old type. (See illustration No. 53, App. No. 15, C. & G. 
S. Report 1879.) 

Geodetic Level Rod. New type. (See illustration No. 3, Special Publication 
No. 18.) 

Case of Small Instruments, Views, and Illustrations, Including an Engraved 
Copper Plate by J. M. Whistler. 

Sample Record Books, Computations and Publications of the C. & G. Survey. 

War Maps, 1861-1865. Morris Island, from early Coast Survey reconnoissance and 
additions by Confederate engineers; plan and views of Confederate defenses, Coast 
of South Carolina; sketch of the approach of Nineteenth Army Corps to Fisher's 
Hill; plan of Fort Jackson; defenses of Charleston, S. C. ; North Carolina, show- 
ing approaches to Wilmington ; Charleston Harbor ; battle field of Chickamauga ; map 
of eastern Virginia, 1863 ; map of the ground of occupation and defense of the divi- 
sion of the United States Army in Virginia; North Atlantic Squadron plan of 
attack on Fort Fisher; Chattanooga and vicinity; military map of southeastern 
Virginia; battle ground of Pleasant Hill; reconnoissance of the vicinity of New 
Iberia; approaches to New Orleans by the Bay of Atchafalaya and the New 



1 66 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

Orleans & Opelousas Railroad ; map of the ground of occupation and defense of the 
division of the United States Army in Virginia; Grand Gulf, Mississippi River; 
approaches to Fort Butte La Rose ; approaches to Vicksburg ; United States forces 
against Vicksburg; Franklin, La. 

Charts. Panama Canal and approaches, 1915; Colon Harbor, 1915; Western coast 
of the United States from Monterey to Columbia River, 1851, in three sheets; 
Chesapeake Bay entrance, 1015; Delaware Bay, 1915; Hampton Roads, 1915; 
Potomac River, Mattawoman Creek to Georgetown, 1915; Isla de Puerto Rico, 
1848, Spanish ; Porto Rico, 1916 ; San Juan de Puerto Rico, 1868, Spanish ; San Juan 
Harbor, 1915; Pacific coast, San Francisco to Cape Flattery, 1915; Pacific coast, 
San Diego to Point St. George, 1916; New York Harbor, 1915; New York Harbor, 
1775 (Des Barres); Harbor of New York, 1840 (Edmund Blunt); New York Bay 
and Harbor, 1845; New York City and environs, i860 (map); Atlantic coast, 
Chesapeake Bay to Florida, 1655; San Francisco Bay, 1916; San Francisco entrance 
and bay, 1850 (Cadwalader Ringgold, U. S. N.); San Francisco entrance, 1915; 
Dixon entrance to Head of Lynn Canal, 1910; Coast of Northwest America, 1798 
(Vancouver); Sitka Harbor, 1911; Sitka, 1850 (British); Narragansett Bay, 1915; 
The Harbor of Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay, 1776 (British); Hawaiian 
Islands, 1913; Honolulu Harbor, 1916; Boston Harbor, 1775 (British); Boston 
Harbor, 1915; Cape St. Elias to Shumagin Islands, 1914; Northwestern America, 
1867; Philippine Islands, 191 5; Manila and Cavite Harbors, 1913; Guam Island 
Harbor, 1915; Baltimore Harbor, 1915; Frenchmans Bay, 1915; Galveston en- 
trance, 1915; Portland Harbor, 1915. 

Atlantic Neptune Charts. 

Wire-Drag Model. (See illustration No. 13. Special Publication No. 23.) 

Original Hydrographic Sheet, No. i, Long Island Sound, 1837. 

Original Sheets. Hydrography of New Bedford Harbor; wire-drag sheet of ap- 
proaches to Penobscot Bay, 1913. 

Sections of Charts of Various Dates, Showing Changes in Shore Line. Ap- 
proaches to New York, 1913; approaches to New York, 1914. 

Aluminum Plate With Impression of Chart. 

Lithographic Stone. 

Copper Plate of Chart, Alto. 

Copper Plate of Engraved Chart. 

Chart and Maps. Cape Sable to Cape Hatteras, 1915; Phototopographic reconnois- 
sance of the Chilkat River Valley, 1898; West Side of Nagai Island, 1915. 

Descriptive Cards of Chart Making, Computing, Compiling and Drawing, 
Engraving, Electrotyping, and Printing. 

Large Map of the United States, Showing Progress of Surveying Operations 

Map of Alaska, Showing Condition of Hydrographic Surveys. 

Eleven Small Base Maps Showing Progress of all Surveying Operations. 

Millionaire Electric Computing Machine. 

Table Showing Number of Charts Printed Annually at 10- Year Periods; 
Cards Showing Duties of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and What the 
Survey Has Done and is Doing. 

Maps of the United States Showing Distribution of Magnetic and Astro- 
nomical Stations. 

Magnetic Isogonic Chart of the United States for 1915. 

Publications for Distribution. 

Original Sheets. South coast of Long Island, 1835; Blackwells, Wards, and Ran- 
dalls Islands, 1885. 

Collection of Annual Reports of the Superintendents of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey. 

Six Stands of Photographs Illustrative of Scenery, Methods, Party Opera- 
tions, and Experiences. C. & G. S. Records. 



Centennial Celebration 



167 




FIG. 30.-PORTABLE ASTRONOMICAL TRANSIT NO. 3 



1 68 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 31.— TROUGHTON REPEATING CIRCLE 
Reproduced from the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1825 



Centennial Celebration 



169 




FIG. 33.-BACHE MAGNETOMETER WITH BOTH SECTIONS OF MAGNET HOUSE 
REMOVED 



170 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




Centennial Celebration 



ty 




172 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




Centennial Celebration 173 




FIG. 37.-TWENTY-INCH THEODOLITE NO. 4. MADE BY TROUGHTON AND SIMMS 



174 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 



Boritmitul 


■■-.* 




ln|L 
I 




C 



FIG. 38— TWENTY-FOUR INCH THEODOLITE NO. 2. MADE BY TROUGHTON IN 
1814 

Reproduced from the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1825 



Centennial Celebration 175 

ORIGIN OF THE COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

The first measure for the survey of the coast of the United States was 
the act of February 10, 1807, authorizing the President to make the 
necessary preparations and enter on a survey of the coast of the United 
States, for which purpose an appropriation of $50,000 was included. 

The immediate result of this act was a circular letter addressed to a 
number of scientists whose reputations seemed to indicate qualifications 
for the work and the consequent choice of the scheme submitted by Fer- 
dinand Rudolph Hassler, one of the originators of the Geodetic Survey 
of Switzerland, for the plan of operations, and the approval of Messrs 
Hassler and Isaac Briggs, the latter afterwards distinguished by his con- 
nection with the construction of the James and Kanawha Rivers and the 
Erie Canal, for the execution of the work. 

Because of the unsettled condition of the international affairs of the 
Nation, nothing further was done until 181 1 , when Professor Hassler was 
requested to prepare designs and estimates for the necessary instruments 
required to put the Survey in operation and, these having been approved 
by the governmental scientific advisers, he was given a commission to 
travel abroad in Europe for the purpose of contracting for the purchase 
and the supervision of the construction of the apparatus. This duty was 
delayed in execution by the outbreak of the War of 181 2, and Hassler's 
return from his accomplished mission did not occur until October 22, 181 5. 

In 1 81 6 Congress reenacted the appropriation provision for the Survey, 
and Mr. Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury, by direction of the President, 
on August 3, approved the detailed plans for operations presented by 
Mr. Hassler on January 5, same year, and appointed him Superintendent 
for the Survey of the Coast, the compensation under this appointment 
dating from June 18, 181 6. 

DEPARTMENTS TO WHICH SURVEY HAS BEEN ATTACHED 

Treasury June i8, 1816, to Apr. 29, 1818. 

Do July 10, 1832, to Mar. n, 1834. 

Navy Mar. 12, 1834, to Mar. 27, 1836. 

Treasury Mar. 27, 1836, to July 30, 1903. 

Commerce and Labor July i, 1903, to Mar. 3, 1913. 

Commerce Mar. 4, 1913. 

PRINCIPAL ACTS OF CONGRESS LEGISLATING FOR THE SURVEY 

ORGANIC ACT FOR CREATION OP SURVEY OF COAST 

Chap. VIII. — An Act to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States. 1 

Be it enacted by Ike Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States shall be, and he is hereby 
authorized and requested, to cause a survey to be taken of the coasts of the United States, 
in which shall be designated the islands and shoals, with the roads or places of anchor- 

1 Stat. L., vol. 3. p. 413. 



176 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

age, within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States; and also the 
respective courses and distances between the principal capes, or head lands, together 
with such other matters as he may deem proper for completing an accurate chart of 
every part of the coasts within the extent aforesaid. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President of the 
United States to cause such examinations and observations to be made, with respect 
to St. Georges Bank, and any other bank or shoal and the soundings and currents 
beyond the distance aforesaid to the Gulf Stream, as may in his opinion be especially 
subservient to the commercial interests of the United States. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States shall be, 
and he is hereby authorized and requested, for any of the purposes aforesaid, to cause 
proper and intelligent persons to be employed, and also such of the public vessels in 
actual service, as he may judge expedient, and to give such instructions for regulating 
their conduct as to him may appear proper, according to the tenor of this act. 

Sec. 4. A nd be it further enacted, That for carrying this act into effect there shall be, and 
hereby is appropriated, a sum not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, to be paid out of any 
monies in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated. 

Approved, February 10, 1807. 

ACT PROVIDING FUNDS FOR PURCHASE OF SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT FOR 
SURVEY OF THE COAST 

Chap. XXXIII. — An Act making appropriations for the support of Government for the 
year one thousand eight hundred and twelve. 1 
****** * 

For surveying the coast of the United States, being the balance of a former appropria- 
tion carried to the credit of the surplus fund, forty-nine thousand two hundred and 
eighty-four dollars and thirty-five cents. 

******* 
Approved, February 26, 1812. 

ACT FOR SUPPLY OF FUND FOR FIRST FIELD WORK OF THE SURVEY 

Chap. CXX. — An act making appropriations for rebuilding light-houses and for com- 
pleting the plan of lighting them, according to the improvements of Winslow Lewis, 
for placing beacons and buoys, for preserving Little Gull Island, and for surveying 
the coast of the United States. 2 
******* 
For defraying the expense of surveying the coast of the United States, fifty-four thousand 
four hundred and twenty dollars and fifty-seven cents. 

Approved, April 27, 1816. 

ACT SUSPENDING OPERATIONS OF COAST SURVEY 

Chap. I, VIII. — A n Act to repeal part of the act, entitled " An Act to provide for surveying 
the coasts of the United States. " 3 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, 
in Congress assembled, That so much of the third section of the act, passed the tenth 
day of February', one thousand eight hundred and seven, entitled "An act to provide 
for surveying the coasts of the United States, " as authorizes the employment of other 
persons in the execution of said act, than the persons belonging to the army and navy, 
be, and the same is hereby, repealed. 

Sec. 2. — And be it further enacted, That all instruments and property of the United 
States, and all surveys, drafts, notes, charts, maps, and documents, in an}' wise belong- 

1 Stat. L., vol. 2, p. 690. 2 Stat. L-, vol. 3, p. 316. • Stat. L.. vol. 3, p. 425. 



Centennial Celebration 177 

ing to the survey of the coasts, be deposited in such place as the President of the 
United States shall direct. 
Approved, April 14, 1818. 

ACT FOR RESUMPTION OF OPERATIONS OF SURVEYING THE COAST 

Chap. CXCI. — .4 n Act to carry into effect the act to provide for a survey of the coast of the 
United States. 1 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, 
in Congress assembled, That for carrying into effect the act, entitled "An act to provide for 
surveying the coasts of the United States," approved on the tenth day of February, one 
thousand eight hundred and seven, there shall be, and hereby is, appropriated, a sum not 
exceeding twenty thousand dollars, to be paid out of any money in the treasury' not other- 
wise appropriated; and the said act is hereby revived, and shall be deemed to provide 
for the survey of the coasts of Florida, in the same manner as if the same had been 
named therein. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be, and he is 
hereby authorized, in and about the execution of the said act, to use all maps, charts, 
books, instruments, and apparatus, which now, or hereafter may belong to the United 
States, and employ all persons in the land or naval service of the United States, and 
such astronomers and other persons as he shall deem proper: Provided, That nothing 
in this act or the act hereby revived, shall be construed to authorize the construction 
or maintenance of a permanent astronomical observatory. 

Approved, July 10, 1832. 

ACT FOR PURCHASE OF FIRST STEAMER FOR EMPLOYMENT IN SURVEY OF 
"WESTERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES 

Chap. LXXVII. — An Act making Appropriations for Lighthouses , Light-Boats,- Buoys, 
&c, and providing for the Erection and Establishment of the same, and for other 
purposes. 2 

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That there be, and hereby is, appropriated the sum of 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to purchase a steamer to be employed in the coast 
survey upon the Pacific coast, and used, if deemed expedient, in designating the sites 
of the several lighthouses provided for in California. 

Approved, September 28, 1850. 

FIRST ACT FOR EXTENSION OF OPERATIONS OF THE COAST SURVEY TO 
WESTERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES 

Chap. XC. — An Act making Appropriations for the Civil and Diplomatic expenses of 
Government for the Year ending the thirtieth of fiune, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, 
and for other purposes. 3 

For survey of the coast of the United States, including compensation to superin- 
tendent and assistants, one hundred and eighty-six thousand dollars. 

For continuation of the survey of reefs, shoals, keys, and coast of South Florida, by 
the superintendent of the coast survey, thirty thousand dollars. 

For continuing the survey of the -western coast of the United States, forty thousand 
dollars. 

Approved, September 30, 1850. 

1 Stat. L., vol. 4, p. 570. * Stat. L., vol. 9, p. 504. * Stat. L., vol. 9, p. 540. 

44282°— 16 12 



1 78 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

ACT FOR EXTENSION OF GEODETIC OPERATIONS INTO INTERIOR OF THE 
UNITED STATES AND FOR SUPPLYING GEOGRAPHIC POSITIONS I- ok STATIC 
SURVEYS 

Chap. CXIV. — An Act making Appropriations for sundry civil Expenses of the Govern- 
ment for the fiscal Year ending fune thirty, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and for 
other Purposes. 1 

For extending the triangulation of the coast survey so as to form a geodetic connec- 
tionbetween the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, including compensation 
of civilians engaged in the work, fifteen thousand dollars: Provided, That the triangula- 
tion shall determine points in each State of the Union which shall make requisite pro- 
visions for its own topographical and geological surveys. 

******* 
Approved, March 3, 187 1. 

ACT CHANGING TITULAR DESIGNATION OF SURVEY 

Chap. 359. — An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the government 
for the fiscal year ending fune thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for 
other purposes. 2 
******* 

COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

Survey of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts: For every purpose and object necessary 
for and incident to the continuation of the survey of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of 
the United States, the Mississippi, and other rivers, to the head of ship-navigation or 
tidal influence; soundings, deep-sea temperatures, dredgings, and current-observa- 
tions along the above-named coasts, and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Stream, 
including its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico and east end of the Caribbean Sea; the 
triangulation toward the Western coast and furnishing points for State surveys; the 
preparation and publication of charts, the Coast Pilot, and other results of the work, 
with the purchase of materials therefor, including compensation of civilians engaged 
in the work, three hundred thousand dollars. 

Approved, June 20, 1878. 

ACT FOR INCEPTION OF ALASKAN BOUNDARY SURVEY 

Chap.' 1069. — An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of theGovernment 
for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, and for 
other purposes. 3 
******* 
Alaska boundary survey: For expenses in carrying on a preliminary survey of the fron- 
tier line between Alaska and British Columbia, in accordance with plans or projects 
approved by the Secretary of Slate, including expenses of drawing and publication of map 
or maps, twenty thousand dollars, said sum to continue available for expenditure until 
the same is exhausted. 

******* 
Approved, October 2, 1888. 

1 Stat. L., vol. 16, p. 508. 2 Stat. L., vol. 20, p. 215. 3 Stat. L., vol. 2s, p. 515. 



Centennial Celebration 179 

ACT EXTENDING OPERATIONS OF THE COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY TO 
HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO, THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO, AND OTHER 
ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN 

Chap. 424. — -An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government 

for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred, and for other purposes. 1 

******* 

For surveys and necessary resurveys of the Pacific coast, including the Hawaiian Islands 

and A laska and other coasts on the Pacific Ocean under the jurisdiction of the United States, 

to be immediately available, and to remain available until expended: Provided, That not 

more than twenty-five thousand dollars of this amount shall be expended outside of 

Alaska and the Pacific coast of the United States, seventy thousand dollars. 

******* 
Approved, March 3, 1899. 

RESOLUTION ACCEPTING INVITATION TO MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL 
GEODETIC ASSOCIATION 

(No. 3.) foint resolution accepting the invitation of the Imperial German Government 
to the Government of the United States to become a party to the International Geodetic 
Association. 2 

Whereas, the Government of the United States has been invited by the Imperial German 
Government to become a party to the International Geodetic Association: Therefore, 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That the President be, and he is hereby, requested and authorized 
to accept said invitation, and that he is hereby authorized and requested to appoint a delegate, 
■who shall be an officer of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, to attend the next 
meeting of said International Geodetic Association, but no extra salary or additional 
compensation shall be paid to such by reason of such attendance. 

Approved, February 5, 1889. 

DOCUMENTS PERTAINING TO THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE UNITED 
STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 

CIRCULAR LETTER ADDRESSED BY ALBERT GALLATIN, SECRETARY OF THE 
TREASURY, TO EMINENT SCIENTISTS REQUESTING PLAN FOR SURVEY OF 
THE COAST OF THE UNITED STATES 

(Copy) 

Treasury Department, 

March 25, 1S07. 

Sir: The President of the United States being authorized by an Act of last Session 
to cause the whole of the Coast of the said States, together with the adjacent Shoals and 
Soundings, to be surveyed, it is his intention that the work should be executed with 
as much correctness as can be obtained within a reasonable time: and he has directed 
me to apply to you, requesting that you would have the goodness to suggest the 
outlines of such a plan as may, in your opinion, unite correctness and practicability. 

As each nautical Survey of the Shoals and Soundings presupposes a knowledge of the 
position of certain points on the Coast, it seems to me that the work should consist of 
three distinct parts, viz: 

1st. The ascertainment by a series of astronomical observations, of the true position 
of a few remarkable points on the Coast; and some of the Light Houses placed on the 
principal Capes, or at the entrance of the principal harbours, appear to be the most 

1 Stat. L., vol. 30, p. 1083. 2 Stat. L-, vol. 25, p. 1019. 



180 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

eligible places for that purpose, as being objects particularly interesting to navigators, 
visible at a great distance, and generally erected on the spots on which similar build- 
ings will be continued so long as navigation exists. 2d. A trigonometrical survey of 
the Coast between those points of which the position shall have been astronomically 
ascertained; in the execution of which survey, the position of every distinguishable 
permanent object should be carefully designated, and temporary Beacons be erected 
at proper distances, on those parts of the Coast on which such objects are rarely found. 
3dly. A Nautical Survey of the Shoals and Soundings off the Coast, of which the trigo- 
nometrical Survey of the Coast itself, and the ascertained positions of the Light 
Houses and other distinguishable objects, would be the basis, and which would there- 
fore depend but little on any astronomical observations made on board the Vessels 
employed on that part of the work. 

But this is submitted to your consideration, not for the purpose of pointing out 
any plan in preference to another, but only in order to shew the view which we have 
taken of the subject, and the degree of accuracy which we are desirous of attaining. 

I will only add, that the greatest practical difficulties which have heretofore oc- 
curred, relate to what I call the Nautical Survey; and on that part of the subject 
the following enquiries have arisen. Can a correct survey be taken with one Vessel 
alone? Can Angles be taken with sufficient correctness from on board a Vessel, 
so as to ascertain its position in relation to three visible objects on shore? Or is it 
necessary that the Vessel's position at the time of taking any particular sounding 
should be ascertained by observers on shore? And many other which an examina- 
tion of the Subject will naturally suggest to you. 

Permit me also to ask, whether you know any persons whom you might recommend 
as capable of acting in the different parts of the work. 

I have the honor to be, 

Respectfully, Your Obed t . Serv 1 ., 

(Indorsements) 
March 25, 1807 



Sketch of a letter to sundry persons on the subject 
of surveying the coast. Submitted to the President 
for correction. 

A. G. 
Approved 

(Sd.) Th. Jefferson, 

March 25. 07. 



Robert Patterson. 

Andrew EUicott. 

M. S. Hasler (Sic). 

John Garnett. 

Isaac Briggs. 

R' Rev d James Madison. 

Joshua Moore. 

Recorded in Light House Letter Book No. 
page 383. 

hassler's plan for survey of coast, approved by president 
Jefferson 

(Translation from original manuscript, in French) 

PHILAD a . Apr. 2. 1807. 

Sir: Honored with your letter of the 25. March last, I take the liberty of answering 
to the confidence you have been pleased to show me, and to communicate my ideas 
upon the best methods to be pursued in effecting the survey of the coast as desired 
by the government. 

The course which you have traced in your letter for this work is very just, and 
contains its true principles. Permit me merely to extend them, in applying some 
considerations more in detail. 

To effect this survey with the greatest possible exactness the course to be pursued 
would be the following. 



Centennial Celebration 181 

To measure upon the whole extent of the coast with a "circle repetiteur a deux 
lunettes," of one foot diameter, (or for want of that an English theodolite of at 
least the same diameter, and capable of multiplying angles), a chain of triangles, 
the sides of which should be about 60 or 100 thousand feet and established upon 
bases measured with the known means of exactness. 

All the astronomical observations and deductions which circumstances may require, 
or which may be necessary, ought to be made in the course of the work, at convenient 
points, as well for determining the latitude and longitude of those points, as the 
azimuths of the sides of the triangles; making use principally of the sun and polar 
star for the last two objects, and of momentary signals (ex. gr. rockets or the discharge 
of fire-arms) made at an intermediate point between two observers. At the same 
time as many secondary points and even simple directions ought to be ascertained 
as can be effected without impeding the principal design. This measure, as you 
have observed, would fix the positions of light-houses, towns, villages, and other 
principal points on the coast, and with a sufficient number of signals erected at suitable 
points, would provide for the continuation of the surveys in detail. 

The results might be laid down, according to the difference of the meridians 
and parallels, upon large paper, divided into plats as convenience might require, 
and accompanied with a table of longitudes, latitudes, distances, and azimuths. 

It would be advantageous that there should always be together two observers, and 
a skilful person in addition to make signals, &c. One of these must have the direction, 
in order to avoid the delays that might arise from a difference of opinion respecting 
the operations. The same observation will apply to the formation of a central point 
for all the works, under a man who to mathematical science shall unite a knowledge 
of the geography of the country. Under him would be made the calculations, and 
the reductions of the measurements at large, the distribution, verification and col- 
lection of all the details of the work. 

The journals ought to be kept with such clearness that the observers after their 
return might give them to other persons conversant with this business, to make up 
from them the results. They ought to be in folio and the opposite of each page of 
observations devoted entirely to remarks, designs, descriptions of stations, plans of 
operations, even notices of the weather, etc. 

A good method of making signals is very important, in order to attain a clear and 
certain view, and consequently exactness in the observation, and without a waste 
of time. I would propose to make use of triangular, equilateral pyramids of from 10 
to 30 feet in height (according to the place where they are to be used) of a proportionate 
base, composed of three posts fixed in the earth, uniting at the top, from which a 
strong pole should proceed, bearing a ball of one foot diameter composed of potter's 
clay and covered with a good yellow varnish, or any other substance forming a point 
of reflection, or it might be composed of a globe of \yi or 2 feet diameter formed of 
barrel hoops covered with white or black cloth according as the projection in relation 
to the observer falls upon the surface of the earth, in the sky or in the water. For 
night signals, large Argand lamps with wicks of six inches or more in diameter 
according to the distance should be fixed upon these stations. 

In low grounds, or marshes, elevated signals will be indispensable. In the centre 
of the pyramid may be placed an apparatus, easily transported, on which to support 
the instrument and the observers separately. In this way observations may be taken 
firmly enough, even in swampy situations, especially if the "circle repetiteur a duex 
lunettes" is used. 

In woods the signals may be erected upon some point a little more elevated, or con- 
nected with the highest trees. They may be so constructed that an observer can 
mount upon them to take angles with a reflecting instrument, supposing that their 
measure can not be obtained from the other angles of the triangle, measured with 
the great instrument. 



1 82 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

The persons charged with the survey in detail, to whom the plats and tables of 
observations above mentioned are distributed, should take these given points as bases, 
from whence to fill up their respective portions of survey as fully as may be desired, 
either with small theodolites, the "planchette or sextant," compass, &c, according 
as local circumstances or the means they may have within their reach will permit. 

The soundings may be taken by a small vessel (a pilot boat, for instance) with an 
observer on board, following and assisting the surveyor tracing the coast. There 
ought to be two shallops in company, for the accommodation of the observers, to serve 
in care of signals, &c. The vessel stopping every time its direction is changed, or 
when a remarkable sounding is taken, the observer on board should measure with a 
sextant the angle between the station of the observer on the shore (to whom he might 
make a signal), and some other convenient point. At the same time the angles 
between the vessel and some determinate point might be observed from the shore. 
The course of the vessel thus laid down, independently of the observations of the log 
and compass, which might nevertheless be made, would determine the currents, if 
there were any, by their difference. The nautical survey might thereby be either 
disregarded, or, in case of need, where that upon the coast could not be made, might 
be substituted in its stead, as convenience should require, always grounding it, how- 
ever, upon the latter. It would be proper that the surveyors should be assisted by 
a pilot, or by some other person acquainted with the coast, who should point out to 
them remarkable objects, names of places, &c. 

In these surveys, the problem of the three points, of which you have made mention, 
might often be applied, but being liable to uncertainty (from a trifling error in the 
observation otherwise of no consequence) when the point to be found approaches near 
the periphery of the circle which passes through the three points given, and in which 
case it becomes indeterminate, it can be given as a general instruction to be pursued. 
The observer ought, before trusting to it, to see, by laying down his situation, if it 
will answer. 

The place of an observer may also be determined under given latitudes by a single 
line the length and direction of which with reference to the meridian is given by the 
measurement of an angle at the point sought, and of an azimuth. 

The determination of the azimuth ought also to be made in these details, by obser- 
vations of the sun and of the pole star, and not taken by the compass, which will serve 
only for the least important. 

It would be advantageous for the surveyors employed on these details to form for 
their use an instructive set of various problems, which should show in what cases the 
application of one or the other is favorable or not: with the best methods of making 
the observations, calculations, constructions, &c, the whole adapted to the method 
of survey which shall be followed : perhaps even tables might be joined to it. 

Such a system of operations, being susceptible of every degree of exactness that 
can be desired (in great triangles to 30000 )' and carrying with it its own proof, would 
give results applicable to every purpose, and would allow a bold course of execution 
in the surveys in detail, by the frequent occasions afforded for verifying the work. 
Without these, this part of the business always runs into a much greater length than 
is apprehended at the outset. The nearer the system adopted may approach to one 
like this, the greater exactness will it give, and the more useful will be its results. 

If such a plan of operation is considered as too extensive under local circumstances, 
the following might be substituted for it. Instead of the triangular measurement 
above mentioned, resort might be had to the fixing of points of latitude and longitude 
by means of chronometers and sextants, or "cercles a reflexion," which ought in this 
case to be of the first quality, and the chronometers always two together. A series 
of points and signals, systematically placed and distributed, to serve for the purposes 
of the survey in detail, ought in that way to be determined, as in the preceding method 
by triangles. Observations of azimuths, even of measured lines, and triangles taken 



Centennial Celebration 183 

by "instruments a reflexion," should be added to them wherever the occasion might 
offer, as well for multiplying determinate points and facilitating thereby the surveys 
in detail as to verify the astronomical observations one by the other mutually. At 
convenient points, or at those of greatest importance, it would be necessary, by 
multiplying and varying the observations, to supply the place of the conjunction of a 
measurement of triangles with the astronomical observations above mentioned. 

To supply the defect arising from the impossibility of observing the double meridian 
altitude of the sun in summer it will be necessary to make use of stars well ascer- 
tained, and above all the polestar. 

This method tho' not susceptible of all the exactness of the preceding, is however 
free from the defect of an accumulation of errors; because the determinations are 
independent of one another. (Latitudes may be ascertained within at least 10 seconds 
of a degree, and longitudes within at least 2 seconds of time.) Its inconvenience is, 
that it does not give with the same facility and precision, determinations of the extent 
of distances, to serve for the surveys in detail; a disadvantage proportioned to the 
largeness of the scale on which they are desired to be laid down ; wherefore for mari- 
time use alone of little consequence. 

What has been above said respecting the verification of differences of longitude, by 
momentary or fixed signals, respecting the journals, the number of persons necessary, 
is absolutely the form for this method. The surveys in detail might be made in the 
same manner, as in the preceding system, by disposing in a proper manner for this 
use, the different measurements and additional determinations mentioned. 

The details of the surveys may be effected by extending the last method to them, 
and alternately even to a nautical survey. But then, that nothing should be omitted, 
it would be necessary to make all the calculations consecutively after the observa- 
tions or the advantage would be lost of verifying them , and of drawing proofs from 
subsequent observations. The same persons employed in making the most essential 
determinations would also be charged with the smallest details, or would depend 
upon them in their progress; being compelled to direct or to prepare and furnish the 
work of the surveyors in detail. Thence, a systematical progress would no longer exist. 

The expense of one and the other of the two methods here proposed, may be con- 
sidered as the same; what one costs in instruments for measuring angles, and in trans- 
portation upon land, the other will cost in chronometers, hire of vessels, &c. 

The consumption of time is decided, 1. By the season, as it may be more or less 
favorable to astronomical observations, which are more necessary in the chronometrical 
survey than in that by the triangles, which may often be measured when astronomical 
observations cannot be made. 2. By the degree of exactness required in the measure- 
ment of the triangles, which will take more time the more careful the observers are 
required to be. 3. By the greater or less number of observations local circumstances 
may demand of one or the other method. 

The different nature of the coasts, and the number of different objects to be sur- 
veyed, on the exterior of the coast (as islands, bays, &c. ) may perhaps render preferable 
for one part of the work, a survey conforming to the first method; and for another, the 
chronometrical or even a nautical survey. To judge competently of this, local infor- 
mation is necessary, which at present I am not possessed of. 

Excuse, Sir, the details and the length into which I have gone: but new yet in this 
country, I have been able to speak of principles only, and to discuss, not to determine. 
An acquaintance with the particular views which may enter into consideration, the 
means both as to scientific knowledge, instruments and persons who can be com- 
manded as well as of the particular obstacles which may occur, are wanting to me: from 
thence depends the decision as to the preference to be given to one or the other de- 
scribed plan of operations which are in my opinion, the most exact and the most 
consonant to the general views of the government. 



184 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

To express myself with greater facility I have taken the liberty of writing through 
preference, in French. 

I have the honor to be with the most profound respect and devotedness, 
Your devoted servant, 

F. R. Hassler. 

FIRST LETTER APPOINTING MR. HASSLER TO SUPERINTENDENCY OF THE 
COAST SURVEY 

Treasury Department, 

3d August, 18 16. 

Sir: The correspondence and documents relative to your being employed as Super- 
intendent of the Survey of the Coast, under the act of Congress respecting that object, 
have been submitted to the President, and your services are engaged on the following 
terms: 

1st. The whole of your time, labor, talents, and attention, shall be given to the work, 
as well in relation to the superintendence of the duties to be performed by military or 
naval officers and assistants, or by draftsmen and engineers, as in relation to the parts 
of the work which are to be executed by yourself. 

2d. You will be provided with competent assistance of officers and men from the 
corps of engineers and from the navy, with tents and field equipage, with baggage 
wagons and horses; and you will have the free use of the public instruments and 
books for the purposes of the survey. 

3d. The party of officers, men, and assistants, accompanying you, will be ordered 
to conform to your instructions; and all the incidental expenses of the survey which 
are of a public nature will be defrayed by the government; but your own personal 
expenses are to be defrayed by you, whether you are employed at home or abroad. 

4th. Funds will be placed from time to time, upon your requisition, in the hands of 
the chief officer accompanying you, to be disbursed, upon your order, in the payment 
of the expenses of a public nature, and to be accounted for by him at the Treasury 
once, at least, in every three months. 

5th. You will receive in full for all your services a compensation at the rate of 3,000 
dollars per annum, and for your personal expenses an allowance at the rate of 2,000 
dollars per annum; to commence on the 18th day of June, 1816, and to be paid quar- 
terly at the Treasury upon your drafts. 

6th. You will make frequent reports of your progress to this department, and 
deposit here all the surveys, drafts, notes, charts, maps, journals, and documents in 
any wise belonging to the survey of the coast; and you will return the public instru- 
ments and books to such place as shall be directed, when they are no longer required 
for the business of the survey. 

7th. If at any time it should be necessary to explain the nature and extent of your 
employment and engagement, your communications to this department, and particu- 
larly the articles submitted by you on the 12th of July, 1816, will be resorted to. 

It only remains to repeat the President's solicitude for a successful and speedy exe- 
cution of the great national work which is thus confided to you, and to assure you of 
the esteem with which 

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, 

A. J. Dallas. 

Mr. F. R. Hassler. 

To the care of Robert Patterson, Esq. 

Director of the Mint, Philadelphia. 

Copy certified conformable to the original, 

F. R. Hassler. 



Centennial Celebration 185 

FIRST REPORT ON FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE COAST SURVEY 

Newark, New Jersey, 23d Nov. 1816. 

Most Honored Sir: Herewith I have the honor to forward to you my first report 
upon the work of the Survey of the Coast, containing the result of all that it was possible 
to do since the time of my appointment. 

I postponed it until now, intending to present in it together all the operations made 
for the purpose of finding a proper locality for the base line and the system of the first 
triangle, which, as one of the fundamental works, it is proper to do with full knowledge 
of the locality and configuration of the country to be surveyed. You will see that 
circumstances, however, prevented me to do this as fully as I would wish, though I 
made every possible exertion towards it. It would be very important for the advance- 
ment of the work that I should be enabled to make this fall yet the works necessary 
to arrest fully the plan of operation. I am very desirous to do it, though at this season 
works in open fields are not without disagreement. 

On speaking lately with General Swift upon the manner of providing the necessary 
assistance for the work of the Survey, which, according to my plans, was intended to 
be provided by the War Department, the following ideas occurred, which I wish to 
present to your consideration: 

1. For the transport of the instruments, next spring and in future, when the best 
instruments of the collection will be used, and particular care required for them, the 
conveying of them by hand of men, which is the best mode, would require such a 
number of them as could not be spared in the corps of engineers, and would be very 
expensive ; that it would therefore be more advantageous, and even the only practica- 
ble way, to have a spring carriage constructed, of proper dimensions and proper arrange- 
ment for that purpose, and to furnish it with two horses and a driver, in like manner 
as it was done in the survey of England, though the operators in that work have re- 
corded in their journal frequent complaints of their theodolite being injured by the 
conveyance. But the two-feet theodolite of Mr. Troughton, in the Government's 
collection, is of far better and more secure construction; so that, with proper care, 
and the slow path naturally adopted in the conveyance, I should think as well this as 
the other necessary instruments could be well trusted to such a carriage. 

2. For baggage and necessary tools, it seemed proper to make use of the wagon and 
horses which Major Abert has procured as long as they may serve, requesting only a 
driver to it. 

3. For any conveyance of larger bulky things, stands, signals, &c, which will be 
required only when moving at some distance, or on certain occasions, it would be the 
cheaper plan to make use of hired assistance. 

4. For the measurement of the base line, next spring, the number of men mentioned 
in my plan for putting the Survey of the Goast into operation is absolutely required. 
According to General Swift's account, they cannot be spared from the service of the 
corps of engineers. A certain number of them will also be required for all future 
times; it will therefore be necessary to provide them by some arrangement. Their 
numbers will however in part depend on the number of cadets from the Military 
Academy who will follow the work. When the time of work for next spring draws 
nearer, and I shall be informed of the means that may be furnished, I shall try to 
adapt to it as much as possible, and be able to be more precise in this respect. 

5. As no carriage like that mentioned in the first article here, nor tents and the 
other articles, mentioned as requisites in my plan of operation, are present in the 
military stores, and no expenses authorized for it in the War Department, it might 
be most proper to furnish Major Abert with instructions and means to procure them. 

I have just received a letter from Major Abert, stating that he had been refused 
funds which he had required for the public expenditure, to enable him to accompany 



1 86 U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

me in the proposed works, and to defray certain expenditures which I had mentioned 
to him as to be encountered now, because, according to the arrangement of the Treas- 
ury Department with me, funds were to be given only upon a request from myself. 
We are, therefore, stopped in our further proceedings at present. 

I take the liberty to state, upon this subject, that this request has been made by me, 
before I left Philadelphia for reconnoitering, and that I have mentioned the sum of 
at least 2,000 dollars as necessary to put to his disposition for the different expenses 
to be encountered before next spring. I have also at the time given in an estimate, 
naming the items of expenditure, among which I did not comprehend either the main- 
tenance of the soldiers and the horses, or the- purchase of horses and wagon, both of 
which I had considered as part of the requisites to be furnished by the War Depart- 
ment, free of expenditures from the funds of the Survey. 

The sum mentioned has been only partially received by Major Abert, as I under- 
stand, for which part he will be able to give account; the disbursements hitherto 
occurred have all been in consequence of travelling for reconnoitering, and some 
temporary signals; therefore, the items stated in my estimate, and now at hand to be 
disbursed, remain yet, as they were stated at the time; and if the proposal of article 
1st, heretofore, meets your approbation, it will be proper to insert it at the rate of six 
or seven hundred dollars probably. 

I must however observe, that all the estimates in detail which I am obliged to 
attempt can yet be but extremely vague and uncertain, and that it is impossible to 
make an accurate estimate before some progress in the work will have furnished me 
with experience to ground a judgment upon; and as it seems that nothing will be 
furnished from the military stores, the articles for which I relied upon them must 
necessarily be added, and augment the disbursement. 

Not to be uselessly prolix here, I take the liberty to refer, for all these particulars, 
to my former plans, letters, and other communications, made at different times, and 
a letter which General Swift has written to the War Department in consequence of our 
conversation. 

F. R. HasslER. 

The Hon. W. H. Crawford, 

Sec. of the Treasury, Washington. 

LETTER OF SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY CONTAINING SECOND APPOINT- 
MENT OF F. R. HASSLER AS SUPERINTENDENT OF COAST SURVEY AND 
CONTAINING INSTRUCTIONS FOR RENEWAL OF FIELD OPERATIONS 

Treasury Department, 

August gth, 1832. 

Sir: With the President's approbation you have been appointed to make, under 
the superintendance of this department, the Survey of the Coast of the United 
States, directed by the acts of the 10th of February, 1807, and 10th of July, 1832. 

The act last mentioned having authorized the employment of other persons as 
well as those in the land and naval service, such assistants of either description as 
may be necessary in the work will be provided at your request. 

Funds will be placed from time to time, upon your requisition, in the hands of 
one of your assistants, to be disbursed for such expenses of a public nature as may 
be properly chargeable to the appropriation for the Survey of the Coast ; and he will 
render his accounts, approved by you, quarterly to the first Auditor. 

Those expenses of the persons in the military and naval service employed in the 
Survey which are chargeable to military and naval appropriations, will be defrayed 
by the officers of the respective departments, and accounted for under the direction 
of those departments. 



Centennial Celebration 



187 



You will receive, in full for all your services, a compensation at the rate of $3,000 
per annum, and for all your personal expenses an allowance at the rate of Si. 500 per 
annum, payable quarterly, to commence on the 2d of August, 1832, you having 
been employed since that time in the necessary arrangements of the instruments 
and other preparatory works. It is to be understood, however, that you will still 
contimie your services in the construction of weights and measures for the custom- 
houses as far as may be compatible with your duties in the Coast Survey, without 
any other compensation than what is allowed for the Coast Survey. 




FIG. 39.— COAST SURVEY BRIG "WASHINGTON 
Lieutenant George M. Bache and 10 



N HURRICANE, SEPTEMBER 8, 1846 
lost on this occasion 



In all other respects than those indicated by this letter, the terms and nature of 
your employment will be the same as were fixed by the letter addressed to you by 
this department on the 3d of August, 1816. 

The plan of operations and methods formerly adopted by you in the Coast Survey 
having been approved of, you will recommence and continue the work in conformity 
with them, including such modifications as are suggested in your report of the 6th 
instant. 

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Louis M'Lane, 
Secretary of the Treasury. 
F. R. Hassler, Esq. 



1 88 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




FIG. 40— COAST SURVEY SCHOONER "EXPERIMENT," 1835-1 



Centennial Celebration 




190 



U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 




Centennial Celebration 



191 




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U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 





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Centennial Celebration 



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194 U- 5". Coast and Geodetic Survey 

HISTORICAL DATA FROM LIST IN "PRINCIPAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO 
SURVEY OF COAST OF THE UNITED STATES," EDITED AND PUBLISHED 
BY F. R. HASSLER, IN 1 834 

PRINCIPAL DATES OF THE SURVEY OP THE COAST 

As it may be of some interest, in future times, to refer to the transactions relating 
to this work, it may be proper to add to these papers the notice, by order of their 
dates of the principal documents to which it has given rise, and of the success pro- 
ceeding of the work itself. This public notice, given herewith, may serve to find 
the documents themselves if needed. 

1807 

February 10th. — Act of Congress authorizing the President to cause the whole of 
the coast and harbors of the United States, with the adjacent shoals and soundings to 
be surveyed. 

March 25th. — Circular letter of the Secretary of the Treasury, requesting to suggest 
a plan of operation for the intended work. One was addressed to me in Philadelphia. 

April 2d. — My general plan of operation for the work, (in French.) 

July 21st. — Letter of Robert Patterson, Esq., Director' of the Mint in Philadelphia, 
informing me, in West Point, of the President's confidence in the plan I suggested; 
but that the situation of external relations occasioned to postpone the execution, 
requesting me to communicate upon the necessary instruments, in a preparatory 
manner. 

August 10th. — I communicated to Mr. Patterson my ideas upon the necessary instru- 
ments, the different manners of procuring them of good quality, and proposed to 
make plans for same. 

September 2d. — Letter of Mr. Patterson to me, proposing me, if I would go to London 
to direct the construction of the instruments there, as no man of this country was just 
there, acquainted with this subject, and requesting an estimate of the amount of the 
instruments. 

September 12th. — My answer to Mr. Patterson, containing the desired estimate, and 
announcing my willingness to undertake the mission if desired. 

1811 

Here the whole rested until March, 1811, when a friend of mine informed me, that 
Mr. Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury, wished to know if I would yet undertake the 
mission to London, for the instruments; upon which, I mentioned him my willing- 
ness for it. 

April 16th. — Mr. Gallatin, by the direction of the President, proposed the mission. 

May 14th to 25th. — Definitive agreement for the mission; the letter arriving while 
I was in a bilious fever; with the first recovery I worked at the plans for the instru- 
ments — base apparatus, &c. — making drawings of them in full size, upon eleven 
plates, (I showed after to Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Patterson, and took with me to London, 
for the instruction of the artists) . 

July 27th. — Left Schenectady for my mission, and my first compensation began. 

August gth, loth, nth. — Met Mr. Gallatin in Philadelphia, and, upon his direction, 
agreed with Robert Patterson, Esq., about the instruments, &c. 

August 25th. — Mr. Gallatin approved of the instruments proposed, and gave me my 
instructions, passport, and a letter of credit upon Messrs. Baring, Brothers & Co., in 
London, for the payment of the instruments. 

August 20th. — Embarked on board the Armata for Liverpool. 

November 2d to 14th. — I made report to the Treasury Department of my arrival in 
London, and my visits to the artists- the necessity of applying to Mr. Troughton 



Centennial Celebration 195 

alone for the main instruments; and the probable necessity of a longer stay than 
contemplated, on account of his being yet occupied with the mural circle of Green- 
wich; entering into various other details. 

1812 

January 8th. — My report to the Treasury Department, giving a detailed account of 
the manner in which I had distributed the work among the artists. 

March 22d. — My further report upon the proceedings with the artists; first account 
upon money received from Messrs. Baring, Brothers & Co. ; and request for directions 
in the case of a change of the political connexions between the United States and Great 
Britain. 

June 2jlh. — Letter from the Treasury Department, directing me to remain in Lon- 
don until the completion of the object of my mission, political changesnotwithstanding. 

August 1st. — Letter to Robert Patterson, Esq., Philadelphia, upon the subject of 
my mission. 

November 25th. — Letter from the Treasury Department, prolonging my stay in Lon- 
don, and answering the questions contained in the letter to Mr. Patterson. 

1814 

January 3d. — I made a detailed report to the Treasury Department, upon the state 
of each object of my mission, and sent in my sixth account upon the money. 

1815 

March 10th. — Compared with Mr. Troughton the French Metres with the Standard 
Scale he had made for me . 

June 24th. — I delivered to Mr. Gallatin, in London, a general account, upon the 
employment of the funds of the credit given to me; showing by estimate also, what 
was needed to complete the full payment of the instruments. 

August 4th. — Date of my last report from London upon my mission ; my last account 
upon the money of the credit upon Messrs. Baring, Brothers & Co., and duplicates of 
all the vouchers belonging to it, which I delivered the day after to his excellency Mr. 
Adams, Ambassador of the United States in London, to be forwarded to the Treasury 
Department. During all the time, I kept a regular journal upon all my proceedings, 
in which I inserted every detail, &c. 

August 8th. — I left London for Gravesend, to embark on board the ship Susan for 
Philadelphia. 

October 16th. — I informed Mr. Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury, of my safe arrival 
in the Delaware Bay, with the instruments. 

October 31st till December 14th. — I deposited all the instruments and books of the 
Government's collection, at the University of Philadelphia, under the care of Robert 
Patterson, Esq., unpacked them, and delivered them in form, as completion of my 
mission. 

December 31st. — I arrived in Washington for the first time. 

1816 

January 5th. — I delivered to the Secretary of the Treasury the plan for putting the 
Survey of the Coast in operation, according to the desire of the President. 

January nth. — I delivered to the Secretary of the Treasury the sketch of my ac- 
counts, both for compensation and balance on the instruments, and other papers 
relating to my mission. 

January 20th. — Mr. Dallas communicated to me the President's approbation of my 
plan, handed in the 5th instant, upon which would be acted when the appropriation, 



196 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

then before Congress, would pass; until that time also, the settlement of my accounting 
concerns was referred. 

April 4th. — Message of the President, and report of Mr. Dallas, upon the progress for 
the arrangements for the Survey of the Coast, stating my return from my mission, and 
that the instruments had given satisfaction. 

May 2d. — Notice of the Secretary of the Treasury, of the passing of the appropriation 
in Congress, and request to concert with Mr. Patterson upon the measures to be taken 
to activate the work . 

July 21st. — I set off for Philadelphia, where I had a conversation with the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, upon various details of arrangement; and asked if it was desired 
that I should begin in a certain place; which he saying to be indifferent, I proposed 
to begin near New York, as being most favorable in principle, which he approved of. 

July 27th. — I arrived at Mount Holly, near Burlington, New Jersey, with the nec- 
essary instruments for reconnoitering, and requested Major T. T. Abert.of the United 
States Topographical Engineers, who had been appointed by the Secretary of War 
as officer to assist me in the work, to come with me ; but not having any funds, for the 
expenditures to be made on public account, he did not come with me. I proceeded 
therefore alone, and went to Brooklyn, requesting General Swift to send some young 
officers or cadets with me , for the continuance of my turn . 

August 6th. — I left Brooklyn with three cadets, then there in vacancy from the 
Military Academy, and proceeded on Long Island, to view Hempstead plains and the 
hills till Setauket; then passing the Sound, visited the opposite hills of Connecticut, 
till again to New York. 

September 17th. — We reconnoitered on Long Branch, Navesink, and the adjoining 
country till to Monmouth Court House, expecting to find a locality for a base line on 
Long Branch, as Hempstead plains had been found unfavorable. 

September 28th. — Left New Brunswick with Major Abert, and continued the recon- 
noitering from the Beaver dam in Monmouth county, and all the Jersey shore south 
till Cape May, and up on both sides of the Delaware till Philiadelphia. 

October 16th. — At Philadelphia, had a conversation with Mr. Dallas, and directed 
the construction of the boxes for the base apparatus. Then returned to Newark, to 
combine the results of the reconnoitering, which giving some probability for a suitable 
base on Long Branch, I requested Major Abert to meet me with the wagon and horses 
at Mount Pleasant, and General Swift to send there two soldiers for the manual assist- 
ance needed. 

December 18th. — I communicated to the Treasury Department the decision of the 
Legislature of New Jersey, to receive proposals for an accurate map of the state, and 
proposed certain arrangements, by which these views of the State Government could 
be made to concur with the Survey of the Coast, with mutual advantage , for economy, 
acceleration, &c, in which I had reason to believe the State Government disposed 
to enter, and make a law, so much wanted for the protection of my work and signals, 
permission to clear views, &c, presenting general views upon this subject, and re- 
questing instructions upon it. I pressed, also, the building of an observatory, &c. 
To this I added a separate letter, requesting again funds to be given into the hands of 
Major Abert. 



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